The Labyrinth of Love
by punknpotter
Summary: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. The thing is, as they get deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, they begin to fall deeper and deeper in love. CHAPTER 14 FINALLY UP! Please r&r!
1. The Prefects' Compartment

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 1: The Prefects Compartment_

Hermione Granger was running late.

"God, Muggles are slow!" she thought, being wise not to say that out loud. Her mother was sitting next to her in the car, with her father in the driver's seat, on the way to King's Cross.

Her parents have always admired her, for being the best in everything (well, almost), for being the most polite daughter any parent could have, for being Hermione. What her parents didn't know was that every year, she was involved in countless adventures, with Hermione's two best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. As far as they knew, she was a responsible prefect who had many friends, and whom everyone respected; which was sort of true. They hadn't a clue about the brewing rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor, and Hermione was not as thick as to tell them about that.

As they pulled up to the station, there were only three minutes left until the Hogwart's Express would leave Platform 9 ¾ . Hermione hurried out of the car and her dad took the trunk out of the rear quickly.

"Bye mum, bye dad. I'll write to you", she said, as she pulled her trunk onto a trolley. She pushed herself through the barrier, and found the train just about to leave. Parents and children were saying their last goodbyes. Hermione couldn't help but hear about what they were saying.

"Are you wearing the clean underwear—"

"I've packed some extra gum just in case—"

"—your owl dear...please make sure that she doesn't peck your eyes out—"

Hermione couldn't help but giggle as she got onto the train. She immediately went around looking for Harry and Ron. She passed a few of her acquaintances and said her "hello, how are you?" to them, and almost every time she got the ever-so-tiring reply of "yes I had loads of fun, and you?"

"Okay then I'll see you—", she told Hannah Abbot, a Hufflepuff in their year, and she set off for Harry and Ron again.

She spotted them in one of the compartments near the drivers.

"Hermione!" said Ron in exasperation, "I'd thought you weren't here"

"Well yes Ron, of course I'm here. A bit late, that's all"

"Good. 'Coz we have to get to the prefects compartment soon"

"Hermione, what happened to your hair?" Harry asked, looking up from the latest copy of the Daily Prophet.

Hermione blushed and smoothed down her hair in the front. It wasn't as bushy as before. She had it fixed up so that it was in a messy bun tied tight with a maroon hair scrunchie. To tell the truth, she was sort of tired of her old bushy hair, and at the same time, she didn't want to look as prissy as Lavender or Parvati.

"I was in a hurry", she said quickly, "Come on Ron—bye Harry"

"Bye Hermione, Ron," Harry said grumpily. He still didn't like the idea of going on a train ride without them.

"So long", Ron said, and pocketed a chocolate frog along with his wand.

"Hurry", Hermione said, already far off. She was a little annoyed at Ron for not taking this prefect thing seriously. Honestly, Fred and George haven't done much for Ron's improvement either. According to Ron's letters over the summer, the twins sent him new prank items weekly. "Business is booming"...Hermione had remembered what the twins had said when they had met at Diagon Alley. For the sake of it, Hermione purchased a fake wand, which had amused her parents greatly when it turned into a rubber chicken.

"I'm coming, I'm coming", an irritated Ron called from a few meters away. He hated it when Hermione took things too seriously. He was just happy to be a prefect. He hated being overshadowed by his brothers all the time...well; actually, he hated a lot of things.

He hated his mother's corned beef sandwiches...having second hand things. Somehow, he always found a way to laugh about it. It was no secret that his family was poor, but it was also well-known that they were a respectable family, a good pureblood family, with well brought-up children. But Ronald Weasley, who had five older brothers and one younger sister and lived in an old house kept up by magic, was sick of it all.

And Hermione Granger was making it worse.

"Please Hermione, hold on...hold—"

"Oh we're going to be late—Ron, your shirt...it's all crumpled"

They quickly entered the prefects' compartment. They were supposed to be there about five minutes earlier.

"It's about time", Draco Malfoy sneered from one of the seats. The prefects' compartment was a bit bigger than all the others and nearly as huge as the compartment that the head boy and girl shared.

"Brooding about having no gold, are you?" Pansy Parkinson taunted from beside Draco, who smirked.

Ron opened his mouth to argue, but Hermione squeezed his hand and he quieted down, clearly not satisfied as to how the insult was handled.

"Well, we're all here. That's what counts. Sit, sit, sit", a Hufflepuff prefect said, and he gave a very wide smile, as if he had slept with a hanger in his mouth.

Hermione forced a smile, and sat down, fixing her hair behind her ear. Ron, on the other hand, furiously tried to smooth down his clothes and did not look twice at the Hufflepuff who spoke to them.

"So, what's this?" Draco said, looking down at a piece of paper.

"List of projects, activities, shifts, duties etc, etc", a fifth year prefect piped up.

"Pass it around then", said Ron irritably, "so we can all have a look"

"Oh Ron," Hermione said, "we could just duplicate it or something"

"Right", the Hufflepuff said, muttering a spell, and sixteen copies of the paper appeared. He passed it around, and they discovered nothing new from last year—except for one thing.

"The end-of-year ball", Hermione breathed, "Great. All work"

"Honestly Hermione, you take things way too seriously", Ron said grinning, "I'll bet you're more worried about preparing all this than getting a date for it"

"Oh honestly—I don't care if I get one or not"

"Vicky not here, is he?"

"Shut up—"

"You shut up, the two of you", Ginny Weasley said from her seat. Ron had forgotten that she was in the fifth year, and a prefect.

"I agree, we should get on about more serious matters"

"We can talk later—or next week"

"We can't, even if we wanted to", a Ravenclaw prefect said, "Now, for the fifth years, shifts should be observed properly, and don't be late—"

"Oh who made you boss?" Draco said loudly.

"Nobody else is acting as mature, so I suppose—"

"You suppose that?"

"Nothing"

Hermione had enough. She took a deep breath and shouted loudly, "Stop it"

At once, there was silence, and everyone looked at her in awe. "Please continue with what you were saying", she motioned to the Ravenclaw sixth year.

"Please don't be late. Meetings shall be announced by post, and activities should be up on the information board. Do make sure that you check it everyday, because we usually have meetings a week earlier before school-wide activities. That's all. Please, please remember"

The fifth years nodded, and looked once again at the schedules.

"Should I get the head boy and girl?" Ron said, getting up.

"Yeah I guess"

"Okay then, hold on"

Hermione shifted in her seat, and Ron left the compartment for the one beside it.

--

Ron found the head boy and girl making out in their compartment.

"Quit it", he told them uneasily.

The girl rolled her eyes and twirled her hair, trying to escape the red that was flooding her cheeks. The head boy got up as if nothing had happened and accompanied Ron and the head girl back to the prefects' compartment.

--

"Okay then, you got everything?" the head boy said about ten minutes later full of explaining and describing the duties.

They all nodded, not wanting to contradict anything that he said, and the lady with the pushcart came, asking if they wanted anything off it.

Ron mumbled something about sandwiches. He had spent all his money on prank items that Fred and George sold to him. Sure, they sent him free stuff, but they weren't as thick as to send him the good tricks. Even with the discounts, Ron still managed to spend a good lot of his pocket money on prank kits.

Hermione smiled cheerily, happy to have something to eat. She purchased a few pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs and a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans. She offered the bag of beans to everyone in the compartment, save for the Slytherins, who smugly devoured to huge pile of treats that they had spread before themselves.

"Thanks", Ginny said, and pointed to Ron, who was pouting at his sandwiches.

"Here Ron, take some", she offered.

"Er—yeah, thanks Hermione", Ron said gratefully, and he took a handful of beans, and a pumpkin pasty. For the first time that day, he felt happy that Hermione was there.

---

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A/N: Please, please review this chapter, or I shan't make the next one. Thank you.


	2. The Feast and the Sorting Hat

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 2: The Feast and the Sorting Hat_

"Hobble off then" Ron called in fake cheer to a small first year with strawberry pink hair. The girl blushed deeply and went off to another first year who looked exactly like her; a twin.

"Can't you be a little more...cheerful?" said Hermione with a disapproving look. She hated the way he always had to affect others when he was in a bad mood. She wondered about this, because he looked pretty happy half the time in the prefects' compartment. "What has gotten into him?" she asked herself, and shook her head when he started telling off a second year that evidently lost his frog.

"Of course I can, I just don't want to", Ron replied, as he watched the second year search for his frog, "This kid's like Neville, only—", he said in a lower, jeering tone when Hermione came to check on how he was doing.

"Ron!"

"What? I was—"

"Hey Ron, Hermione!" a voice said.

They both wheeled around. It was Harry, from a few meters away. They waved back, and to his dismay, they were forced to turn back to prefect duties.

"Settle down!" Hermione said aloud, but in a kind manner. Some of the first years got the idea, and settled down, as Hermione told them to. However, some people at the back were messing around, talking in loud voices. Hermione looked around and saw the other prefects busy, ushering in students in lower years. She was getting a bit desperate when suddenly Ron spoke.

"She said SHUT UP!" Ron bellowed, "Are you that stupid, or are you just deaf?"

"Whatever", someone from the back row said loudly. Ron glared at him, and the kid quieted down, and muttered an apology.

Hermione smiled and, for the first time, admired Ron's talent for shouting at people. Something white shot out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see a few ghosts pass, transparent, and filling the first years with awe.

Finally, Professor McGonagall stepped in as the doors that went into the Great Hall swung open. Hermione grinned, and Ron just tried to smooth out his robes again.

"We are ready for you", she said aloud, "Prefects, please show them in. Thank you"

Hermione picked out a group of giggling girls. "Yes, yes I know her hat looks funny, just, please, follow me", she said tiredly, and she showed them into the Great Hall.

"Oooh—", one of the girls said, and instantly, her companion told her to keep quiet. Hermione beamed. "A future prefect", she thought, and continued to walk on until they reached the front of the platform where the sorting hat sat, waiting to sing its new song.

She told them to wait for the sorting—quietly—and she left to join the other Gryffindors at their table. She spotted Ron, who was looking for her, and gestured for him to sit down.

"Honestly, Ron, you are quite blind", she said in her know-it-all voice. Ron scowled at looked at Harry for some help. Harry just shrugged.

"I'm clueless too, mate", Harry said, trying to help, "Better just live with it"

Ron shook his head sarcastically then straightened up to watch the sorting. They were never really that fun. On occasion, there were some first years who kept the hat on, and he remembered the other year when a small boy blurted out "But he has a hook-like nose", when the sorting hat had declared him a Slytherin. The next day, Ron heard that the kid was given a week's detention for having his sneakers untied at Potions.

"Hufflepuff!" the hat declared, and the little girl with bright yellow hair skipped off to the Hufflepuff table, which was sitting under yellow streamers with a huge yellow banner outlined with black.

The sorting seemed to go on and on, but Hermione managed to keep her chin up and pretended to be listening. She clapped as a dark haired boy, declared a Gryffindor, came up to their table and sat between Harry and Colin Creevey. Harry smiled at him, and grinned, as they boys eyes wandered over to Harry's forehead. Colin then started to talk to the boy about Harry, and Harry, and Harry...

After the sorting, Dumbledore stood up. His beard bright silver under the candles' glow, and he adjusted his glasses and took a sip from his already filled goblet.

"Welcome students, new and old", he said in his is usually slow voice. The funny thing was, no matter how slow he spoke, it was always full of energy and his eyes glinted behind his glasses. He got into his usual talk about the long list of restricted items posted on Filch's office door and of the forbidden forest and its being...forbidden.

"Let the feast begin!"

The empty plates that sat in front of them were instantly filled with food. Lamb chops, chicken, gravy and potatoes...everything Ron's heart desired. He ate to his heart's content, occasionally taking a sip of chilled Pumpkin juice.

Hermione looked at him in slight disgust. She hated how he had to eat so fast. The food was going to stay there long enough anyway. She wondered how he could eat this much and still have room for dessert. Hermione decided to clear that off her mind, and eat to her heart's desire too.

She was starting to become quite full when the plates disappeared and were replaced by smaller plates of sweet tarts and cakes, and even little bowls of ice cream topped off with whipped cream and cherries. Hermione was too weak to resist the ice cream, so she ended up taking a bowl with a small helping.

Ron took a slice of cake, three small tarts, and a bowl of ice cream. Finally, Hermione couldn't help herself.

"How do you eat that much?" she asked him.

He looked at her with a questioning look of blended anger, embarrassment, and humor. "Oh", he said flatly, "I dunno"

"I thought so", she said, rolling her eyes.

--

"Oooh", the girl said again, as Hermione and Ron led the first years to the Gryffindor common room. They were halfway up the stairs, and the pictures were moving around, staring at the children curiously.

"Keep quiet", she said, taking a page out of Ron's book and glaring at the girl.

"I was just appreciating art..." she said quietly. The girl beside her giggled.

"Hey Hermione, let me do a Percy", Ron grinned.

"Please Ron—"

"I'm a prefect, follow me. Now this is the most direct way to the dormitories—", he said pompously, as Percy did so in their first year.

"Password?" the fat lady said in a bored tone.

Hermione said the password quickly, and the portrait swung open. They all went in. Harry was sitting down on a couch, waiting impatiently for them to arrive.

"About time..."

"You sound like Malfoy", Ron said quickly, and he brushed his flaming red hair off his eyes.

"Ron, better get a hair cut. I don't think—"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm tired Hermione, just—just let me sleep"

Harry yawned and looked around. Some fifth years were lounging around, but aside from that, the common room was empty. Most of them went up to bed already.

"Oh I suppose so", Hermione said, "Goodnight Harry...Ron"

"'Night 'Mione"

"Night"

--

Hermione looked up the stairs sleepily and climbed it up to her dormitory.

"Hey Hermione", Parvati said, wearing bright pink pajamas.

"Hello Parvati...Lavender", she said, and ambled on to her four-poster bed. She sat down for a while, and stared at the wall. Her eyes glazed over, and she quickly stood up again, and pulled out silky purple pajamas and a yellow face towel.

She went into the bathroom and stared at herself.

"You look so old Hermione", she told her reflection.

"Okay dear..." the mirror said sleepily.

She quickly washed her face, brushed her teeth, and quietly combed her hair, thinking about the next day.

--

Ron grumpily changed into red and white striped pajamas, and watched as Harry put on some socks.

"Those socks look sick", he told Harry, and Harry stared.

"I suppose they are. They used to be Uncle Vernon's"

"They are. I can tell. They're all moldy"

The 'sock' conversation continued and ended up being a 'quidditch' conversation. Harry got into bed staring at his socks, and thinking that they really were sick.

Ron smiled sleepily and slipped under the blanket. He was reflecting on the day's activities. And what more, he was thinking about how he felt so 'warm' when Hermione had offered him Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans.

---

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A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers.

_Ron'sgoddess, Anon11, remembercedricdiggory, krzy-cav-4-christ, king Harold, laxgoalie, scully4946, thinkingofaname, deep blue quill, petite.princesse_

_I LOVE YOU ALL._

Please review!! I shan't post until you tell me what you think...just a teeny-tiny review will do. Thank you. Let me try this again...I'll give you a chocolate bunny if you review. ;)


	3. Through the Door

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 3: Through the Door_

Weeks passed, along with hours of tiresome classes, droning voices of their professors, and afternoons in the library too. They were all glad to hear about the upcoming Halloween feast. God knows they deserved a break from all the homework and extra-credit assignments that were given to them. They needed something to keep their minds off the pressure that the teachers were giving them as well.

Ron's head was about to explode. "That McGonagall has no conscience..." he said to Harry as they left their transfiguration class. Hermione was still inside asking McGonagall about who-knows-what. Ron rolled his eyes at the idea of Hermione asking, "Is this information vital—"or "Don't you think it's relevant?" Hermione had changed her hair, but not her attitude. If any, she was more a bookworm than she had ever been, worried about the N.E.W.T level classes the sixth years were taking. Ron just wanted to get away from that all, pull a 'Weasley', like Fred and George did. But he knew his mom would kill him if he did.

Hermione went out of Transfiguration looking pleased with herself. "Oh what's bugging you?" she asked Ron cheerily.

"You", Ron said airily, but recoiled at Hermione's glare, "Okay fine...nothing...just frustrated. You? You look happy today"

"Me?" Hermione, "It's about the essay that we passed last week...McGonagall gave me a 9 out of ten, remember? But I convinced her that the background of the spell was necessary so I got a 10"

"Oh", Ron said, wondering if Hermione even had a real life.

"Snap out of it Ron, it's a Friday", said Hermione impatiently

"Which reminds me," Harry said, staring at the floor then looking at the two, "Hagrid's written me if you want to go to his hut?"

They spent the rest of the afternoon there, having tea, talking about school. They were quite thankful for Hagrid. He was their only escape from the rest of the school. It was quite interesting, really, to hear about Hagrid's progress with Grawp.

They left after an hour and a half, and Hagrid waved from his hut. They waved back, and breathed at the setting sun.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Hermione asked them.

"Yeah...", Ron's voice trailed, surprised that Hermione had time to notice the beauty of the sunset.

--

"So...what time?"

"Seven o'clock", Hermione said quickly, "Honestly, Ron, you keep on forgetting. It's quite annoying you know"

"Whatever"

Hermione rolled her eyes. As prefects, they were supposed to patrol for about an hour into the Halloween feast. After that, they could eat, and another pair of prefects would take their place. They were assigned to the third floor, and they hurried out of the library to get ready for the feast.

"Hold on," Hermione said, stuffing a book into her already full bag. It didn't seem to fit.

"Oh let me take it", Ron said, taking the book.

"Thanks", she said in relief. Since when did Ron have concern for her?

Ron was just surprised as she was, but he held the thick blue book tightly. He checked his watch. They were late.

"Hermione!" he said loudly, "We're late!"

"I supposed we could go immediately...but our bags—"

"We could carry them...Honestly, they're not that heavy"

"Yours isn't"

"Then we'll switch", he offered in a cold voice.

"Are you sure?"

"3, 2, --"

"Okay...we'll switch bags", Hermione gave in, and she handed her bag to him, and he did the same to her.

Instantly, Ron regretted offering to switch bags. Hermione's bag was as heavy as a pile of bricks, but he tried not to show how heavy it was. He followed Hermione with a look of confidence to the third floor.

--

Ron and Hermione had been patrolling the third floor for about ten minutes, and already, Ron had started complaining.

"I bet that they're already eating..."

"Will you shut up?"

"What? I was just—"

"Oh never mind", Hermione said, and she turned back to her book. She had been reading while walking, but she never even came close to bumping into something.

The corridor seemed to go on for miles. It rounded into a dark corner. They passed empty classrooms and staring people in pictures.

"Ron, have you done your charms homework?" Hermione asked, trying to make conversation. The emptiness of everything started to get to her, and the silence was extremely deafening.

"No, and what do you care if I have?" Ron said. He had been staring at his shoes. They were old sneakers...from one of his brothers. For a reason, Ron couldn't remember who.

"Nothing. I think you should finish it already"

"I'll finish it when I want to"

"Fine", Hermione said. She gave up. She was never going to have a proper conversation with Ron without Harry with them. Heck, even _with_ Harry they didn't get along. "If it wasn't for a troll..." a thought crossed her mind, and she grinned. Ron saw.

"What are you smiling for?" he asked.

"Nothing"

"You always say that—but it's never nothing—is it?...there's always something"

"I was just—just remembering the way we became friends"

"Oh", Ron said, surprised.

They turned into the dark corner. Lights flickered instantly, lit by torches on the walls. Hermione saw that it was a dead end. Except for a door.

"Hey, what's that?" Ron said, suddenly excited.

"It's a door, Ron"

"I know it's a door. I'm not thick," Ron said, annoyed again, "but where does it lead?"

"You wanna see?"

"Sure" Ron said.

They went closer to the door. It was a bright green door carved with different patterns of flowers, trees, greenery and other natural things. For a while, Hermione thought that the designs moved, but she concluded that it was just her imagination.

Ron held out his arm to reach for the doorknob. He was halfway into turning it to open, but the bright green suddenly became a dull, leafy, natural green, and the designs disappeared. Ron let go of the knob, and the bright green color of the door and its designs appeared again.

"Wicked", he whispered.

"Open it", Hermione suggested. She didn't sense any danger. In fact, she had this feeling that happiness awaited them inside that door. She wasn't about to pass up the chance for some brightness in her life. Nobody knew, but she craved life and adventure. She was just too deep into accomplishing her studies that she didn't want to risk it all for fun.

"You sure?" Ron said. He didn't feel any threat to opening the door, but he wanted to be sure Hermione didn't mind.

"Yes Ron, I'm sure"

"Okay then", he said, and he turned the doorknob all the way.

---

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A/N: I rather cruelly left you. I'm sorry. Thank you to all my reviewers. I love you all. :::CHOCOLATE BUNNIES FOR EVERYONE:::

_Anon11: Thank you so much for your loyalty and efforts...I love your reviews_

_Carly: try again. I hope this time you'll get to read it._

_AngelSerpent91: Thank you so much! I'm not sure how mushy this is going to be._

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_Sasami Tombo: Thank you. The first two chapters were intended for introduction so they were supposed to be short._

_King Harold: You shouldn't be ashamed! Be proud to be RWHG!_

_LMR: I mean it when I threaten...oh but I guess it's not working, so instead I shall give you a pixie stick_

_SailorHermy: Thank you so much for this review and all your past ones in my other fic_

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_Ronnie Granger Wheezy: Oooh. That's good._

_Celi & Mary: Thanks_

_Afza-chan: don't be so impatient. It'll come soon enough._

_Simba's pride: I don't need flames. What I need is constructive criticism._

_I LOVE YOU ALL!_

Please review this chapter. If I don't get at least a few reviews, I won't post the next chapter. Thank you.


	4. Staircases of Bright Green

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. The thing is, as they get deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, they begin to fall deeper and deeper in love.

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 4: Staircases of Bright Green_

They got inside the bright green door. They stared. Everything was green. The walls, the ceiling, the floor; all green. Well, different shades of green. They found themselves in a circular room full of doors. All of the doors were bright green like the one that they went through.

They looked up in awe. Up, there were more doors of bright green. From where they were standing, there was no visible way to get up there. The doors were standing behind silver rails, which stood up among all the green. There seemed to be no end to the doors that went around in some kind of spiral. The ceiling could hardly be seen, but it was clearly as green as the floor. The floor sparkled. It sort of looked glittery, but there were no precious stones. It was just green, probably just hit with the glint of light coming from above.

"We have to leave", Hermione said firmly. They wheeled around to face the door the came through. It was no longer there. It was only a wall, bare except for a piece of thick parchment tacked up on it.

"Hermione..." Ron said, a bit nervous, "We're in deep shit"

"I know"

Hermione stepped closer to the parchment. She read it silently then turned to Ron, who was staring up at the ceiling.

"Ron"

"Yeah?"

"Look at this"

_You've found yourself inside a maze_

_Gone from the world with out a trace_

_You've lost yourself in time and space_

_What to do is pass through each place_

_Try to find your way out of this room_

_Or hunger and thirst till your doom_

_To help you find the door you need_

_Take this level and follow its lead_

_Until everyone could find the top_

_Get through each door but don't you stop_

_Once you're out please don't forget_

_That this isn't over yet_

_This maze shall go on and on_

_Till you reach the door of the very last one_

"We're in a Labyrinth", Hermione said breathlessly, "I've read about these"

"What have you read?" asked Ron, thankful that Hermione was a bookworm.

"Doors just pop in different places out of nowhere", Hermione said looking regretful, "How could I forget?"

"How do we get out?"

"The poem", Hermione said, "The poem said that we'll have to find the right doors"

"Hermione", Ron said sarcastically, "haven't you noticed that this place is full of them?"

"Oh no, Ron, you've got it all wrong", Hermione said, sitting down against the green wall, "This is just room one"

"One?"

"There are different rooms we'll have to pass through to get out the way we came in", Hermione said, "This is just room one"

"How many are there, do you reckon?"

"Usually there are ten to fifteen rooms in a labyrinth, maybe more", Hermione said, her face falling.

"Ten?"

Ron almost looked like he was about to faint. He couldn't spend days, even weeks with Hermione in some maze. Little did he know, Hermione was feeling exactly the same about him.

"Or more", Hermione added.

"Isn't there a spell or something?"

"Nope. Magic is banned within the Labyrinth. It has a sort of magic of its own, anyway"

Ron was getting desperate. He bit his lip and turned to Hermione, who was still sitting on the floor.

Hermione touched the floor with her finger. It sparkled green, and it felt unusually cold. Hermione ignored it, and got up. "Let's go", she said and started opening a door. A bright light came from it, and then faded. A solid wall formed in the doorway.

"Ron!" Hermione said frantically, "Help me look!"

"How do I know if it's the door?" Ron said.

"It has to have a way to get up"

Ron sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have opened it", he thought, then held out for a handle and turned it. Several blue birds came out of it, causing Ron alarm, and then they erupted into smoke. Ron turned to another door, then another. Each door caused him frustration. There was nothing behind them usually, sometimes; they had things that were completely useless. The most useful door he'd found was a door full of socks. He took a few pairs for him, and some for Dobby. That crazy house-elf could never have enough socks.

Hermione had found a room with broken crayons in them. She took out two red ones and crossed out all the doors that she had opened and gave the other one to Ron. Finally, they ended up with three doors left.

Ron took the first one, and ended up with wet. Something inside had sprayed him. He felt both refreshed and annoyed. Hermione tried to suppress her giggles as she reached for the second door. She swung it open, and a huge smile crept over her face.

"This is it", she said to Ron. Ron put Hermione's bag (which was a dark blue backpack) over his shoulder, and came over to see. There, through the door, was a plain bright green spiral staircase.

"Hey," he said, motioning to the other door, "let's check out this one, for fun"

"Okay then," Hermione said, "Open it"

Ron opened the door and a smile bigger than that of Hermione crept over his freckled face. "Food!" he exclaimed, and Hermione rushed over beside him. She saw that the room was full of loaves of bread wrapped in plastic-wrap. "Quick," Ron said, "Stuff them in my backpack"

Hermione took Ron's backpack from where she left it and handed it to him. Ron looked at her skeptically and took the bag. He was able to fit about six small loaves into it. Hermione smiled because Ron had thought to open the last door. Who knew how long they were going to be there?

"Not me, that's for sure", Hermione thought.

Ron then suddenly pulled Hermione through the door with a staircase, and with his hand on hers, they ran up the staircase and found themselves in a brightly-lit corridor of green.

"God, I'm sick of all this green", Ron muttered,

After that, nothing but silence happened as they walked along the long corridor. The silence gave Hermione time to think. She didn't want to be stuck here, especially with someone like Ron. But, she thought it over, and she decided that it was her chance to have fun. It was her escape from books, responsibility and boredom. It was her chance to live life the way it was supposed to be.

Beside her, Ron stared nervously at his feet. His mum would kill him if she'd find out that he'd skive off classes just for this thing. He didn't really find it exciting, this labyrinth. For Ron, it was just a waste of time. Now, he had no quidditch or no comfy bed. All he had was the class bookworm and five and a half loaves of bread, since he had started on the first one.

At the end of the corridor, there was a bright green door. Hermione reached for it. Ron watched as Hermione opened it to reveal the second level of doors. Ron looked over the handrail. Nothing had happened. The sign was still tacked on the wall, and the floor stilled sparkled as if it held a secret.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron, and then she started opening doors and crossing them out with crayons. "Ron!" she said when she saw Ron still staring at the first level floor.

"What?" Ron said suddenly.

"Help me look!" Hermione said, and crossed out another door.

"Oh...yeah", Ron said, and then he opened a door on his left. When he did, he pulled Hermione in and they went up the spiral stairs of bright green.

When they reached the end of the second corridor, Ron opened the door and they got inside. The five and a half loaves of bread were down to three. Ron had given Hermione some, and she took them. As she opened each door, she took another bite off the piece of bread.

The first door was full of shoes. Most of them were sneakers, but others were high-heeled shoes, combat boots or formal ones. Ron took a pair of black and white sneakers and Hermione took a pink and red one from the nearest shelf.

"Freebies", Ron grinned, and changed into the shoes. He took a few steps to try them out, and found himself bouncing to the ceiling then landing on the floor. Hermione helped him get up, giggling. "Ha-ha", he said, and she quieted down. He was about to toss the shoes back inside, but Hermione stopped him.

"Wait", she said, "We might need them"

"Oh, alright", Ron said, "But they won't fit in my backpack"

"Carry them then", Hermione said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Then she reminded herself, that they were no longer in the _real_ world.

--

Ron grumpily opened a door and found some Muggle things.

"Ooh", Hermione said, getting inside, "A digicam!"

"Digi-what?"

"A digicam, Ron!" Hermione said, "It's a advanced Muggle camera"

"But the pictures don't move, do they?"

"Of course not", Hermione said, "I'll take one"

With that, she took a small digital camera and stuffed it in her robes.

--

They found the right door soon after. The spiral staircases were never-ending. They found themselves in level after level, and they found different things behind each door. They were nearly to the top, when something happened.

Hermione opened up the third door on what seemed like the thirteenth level they had been to. A slight breeze hit her, and suddenly swirls of gray and black appeared before her, creating a cold vortex that led into who-knows-where.

"Ron!"

"Hermione!" Ron said, and immediately ran over to grab her hand. She was being slowly sucked into the swirling lights, and Ron pushed his foot against the wall to help her out.

"Hold on tight!" he said desperately.

Tears came down Hermione's cheeks as Ron slowly pulled her out, and with great effort, they both closed the door. Hermione shakily pulled out the red crayon from her robe and drew an X over the door. She also added the words 'danger: vortex' in her neat handwriting.

--

"Th-thanks, Ron", she said, and gave him a quick hug.

"Sure", Ron said, his ears turning red.

Hermione was blushing furiously as she opened another door. That room was empty, and she hastily closed it up and turned to face Ron. "Have some bread", Ron offered awkwardly.

--

They left the level and got into a few more. They climbed a bright green stairway and found themselves facing only one door and a huge box beside it. The box had a few things in it, and a piece of parchment was tacked up above it.

_You have reached the end of this room_

_At least now you've avoided doom_

_For now you must take a pack_

_To keep you alive on the track_

_Take one each but not more than that_

_Or else something happens, who knows what?_

"Take one, Ron"

"Can't we take more?" Ron argued, "We might need them"

"No, this is the wizarding world—well sort of," Hermione retorted, "who knows what might happen if we take more than one each?"

Ron reluctantly took a bag. Hermione's backpack was already slung over his shoulder, so he had to carry it with his hands. Hermione took one, and she turned to Ron.

"Ready?"

"Yeah, I guess so", Ron said.

Hermione turned the doorknob, but didn't continue.

"Wait," She said, "I just want to..."—she took a deep breath—"...thank you again. I mean, really, Thanks"

"Sure, Hermione, anytime"

Then they pushed open the door together to reveal a whole new room.

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Sorry for not updating!

_Chuckles, Misao Chan3, SailorHermy, Katy, deep blue quill, thinkingofaname, king Harold, photochick129, anon11, celi, sasami tombo_

_I love you all! _

Please review this one. I've been extremely busy lately, so I might not update till I get motivated by enough reviews! ;)


	5. Lighting the Darkness

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. The thing is, as they get deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, they begin to fall deeper and deeper in love.

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 5: Lighting the Darkness_

As they pushed themselves through the green doorway, they immediately closed their eyes and opened them up again. It was still dark. Everything was dark. Everything.

The only light they could see was a small flicker of fire on the torch hanging on the wall farther along. They started walking towards it, and felt like something was happening. The light seemed farther and farther…suddenly, the walls closed in, and their noses were just inches away from the torch. Below the torch was a piece of paper. They kneeled down and read it.

_Dark is for sleep, rest and relax_

_Take what you need: Bed, water, snacks_

_But when you wake, be careful and alert_

_Get through this room and get on to the third_

"There's no bed, nor water or even snacks!" exclaimed Ron, "How the bloody hell—"

"Ron!" hissed Hermione, "Shut up!"

She put her hand up in front of his face, and he backed away a little. She looked around. She had heard something moving. She wasn't sure if it came from the ground, from the walls, or from the ceiling. All she knew is that there was something going on. There was a sort of scuttling noise. They stood up.

Ron heard it too. He opened his mouth to say something, but he decided to press his ears against the wall. It was cold. Everything was. He held his hand to the fire. There was no heat at all. It was just cold, and breeze hit him. He shivered a little.

Hermione looked at him, in a queer and concerned way. It couldn't be seen in the dark, but Ron's ears turned so red. Hermione knelt down again and pressed her ear against the cold ground. Something under there was moving…and she quickly stood up, backing away against Ron, who held her arms tightly. They backed away further and pressed their backs against the cold hard wall next to the piece of paper.

"What was that?" Ron whispered.

"I honestly don't know, Ron!" Hermione said.

Hermione took her pack from her back. It was darkish, and she held it out to the torch and, she pulled out some things. The first one was a small box. She smiled instantly. She knew what it was.

"Ron, move aside", she said, and she pressed a red button on the box.

Then, she threw the box on the ground. Ron squinted, and then grinned. The box had contained a small sleeping bag. From the small light of the torch, Hermione managed to pull it nearer and fix it up.

Ron was already taking out a similar box from his pack. He pressed the button, and a small sleeping bag was laying a few inches away from Hermione's.

He laid it out properly beside hers and smoothed it out. Hermione was rummaging inside her pack again. She had pulled out a small pouch. From that pouch were some pills and capsules.

"What's this?"

"Magic first aid", Hermione said, currently preoccupied. She pulled out a small Styrofoam thing where you put the food in parties, or when you take out from a Chinese restaurant. She opened it up, and the delicious smell of food filled the air.

"Mmm", Ron said, "Never-ending chicken!"

"What?"

"You've never heard of this?" Ron said, "You could buy it in Ireland for a fortune…it's like this box that never runs out of food"

"Chicken for the rest of your life?" Hermione said skeptically.

"No," Ron explained, "It's just what they call it. As soon as you finish a meal, a new one appears in five minutes"

"Handy", Hermione whispered, and she took a spork from the pack. She started eating the meal. It was a sort of noodle dish, which tasted unusually good. Ron did the same, and soon they were eating non-stop. They suddenly slowed down about ¾ into the dish, and they started taking involuntary glances at each other. Everything was silent; each one was too afraid to speak.

"This is silly," Hermione thought, and she turned to Ron. Ron was staring out at the darkness, sort of desperate to find something more.

"Hermione", Ron spoke, "I'm sorry"

"For what?" Hermione said, suddenly surprised. She didn't think that Ron was the type of person who said sorry. She didn't even know why he was saying sorry.

"That I opened the door", Ron said.

"But I told you to"

"But I shouldn't have", Ron argued, and he put his Styrofoam box down and slinked inside his sleeping bag.

"I'm sorry, Hermione", Ron said, "I really am"

"You shouldn't be, okay?" Hermione said angrily, "You shouldn't be"

She herself slunk inside her own sleeping bag and pushed her hair away from her face. Hermione was feeling red all over, and extremely angry. Ron didn't have a reason to feel sorry. Hermione wanted this…or did she? Though she didn't want to think about it, she felt scared and lonely. Ron wasn't someone she could talk to, and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk to him. She couldn't even really start an interesting conversation. She and Ron were complete opposites, aside from the fact that they were so-called best friends.

Hermione turned to Ron, and propped her hand up under her chin. Ron was already sleeping. His back was turned to Hermione.

Ron was not asleep. He closed his eyes in favor of an imaginary land with rainbow-ish colors and bright happy sunshine, perfect for quidditch. He was sort of desperate a while ago, trying to apologize to Hermione. She had kept on saying that it wasn't his fault, but he felt like it entirely was. Hermione wasn't really that close to Ron. She didn't know the real Ron. All she saw was this idiot who played quidditch and faked divination homework. Ron vowed, that he was going to make Hermione see the real him, even if it meant having a proper conversation.

Hermione slept well that night, but Ron twisted and turned in his sleep, for some dream. Hermione woke up Ron. Everything was silent again, and it was still dark. Ron sleepily opened his eyes.

Suddenly, the lights came on. About twenty different torches lit up in different corners of the room. The thing is, Ron and Hermione had to shut their eyes again, and get used to the brightness. When they opened their eyes, they felt like they wanted to close them again, but they didn't. The torches glowed different colors. Some were blue, or pink, purple or red…every color that you could imagine. They all created a glowing rainbow that reflected on the floors. The floors; they finally looked down to see the floor. It was a glassy sort of white, quite pearly, and one was able to see one's reflections. There was something else about that floor. It was made to look like pieces of a puzzle. Hermione turned to Ron who just shrugged. Ron's eyes darted to the wall.

It was moving farther and farther away again, and then suddenly there was a loud crack coming from the floor, and a piece of the puzzle-like floor came off and floated in mid air for awhile, then it zoomed towards Ron and Hermione. Hermione grabbed Ron's hand and they ducked. The puzzle piece hit the wall and fell to the ground, shattered into a thousand pieces.

When Ron and Hermione stood, Hermione was still clutching Ron's hand. They noticed this, and then they quickly pulled away. They both walked to the part of the room where the piece came out of. They were both blushing furiously. Hermione knelt down. She saw nothing. It was an empty space below, all darkness. She started to bring her arm closer and closer and push it in the emptiness, but Ron stopped her.

He grabbed her hand, and said "Don't"

"Ron—"

"You said it yourself Hermione, anything can happen"

"Still…"

Ron gave in, but he didn't let Hermione's hand go. Instead, he put his own hand in. It was cold. He pushed it in the crack deeper, and he felt water. With his hands he formed a cup and took some. He splashed his face, and felt the best feeling in the world. He felt so refreshed, and so renewed, and so happy.

Hermione looked at him curiously and she put her own hand in. She took a careful sip of the water. It was the best water she had ever tasted. She wasn't even sure if it was water, but it was a clear, odorless liquid with a delicious taste.

Then, Hermione began to feel dizzy, and she suddenly blacked out.

"Hermione!" Ron whispered hoarsely.

He felt her hand. It was very, very cold. Ron started to worry. He bit his lower lip and started to look around the rainbow colored room. Then he remembered. He took the pack from the floor and opened it up. He took out some of the pills and capsules, and looked at each one with a confused look.

Finally, he did 'eenie meenie minee moe' and took a bluish pill. He slowly held up Hermione's chin and opened her mouth, putting the pill under her tongue. It made her tongue turn the same hue as the pill, and slowly, it made Hermione entirely blue. Her hair remained brown, but everything else was a light shade of blue.

Ron breathed. He remembered that this was what was supposed to happen. He laid Hermione down on her sleeping bag and he waited.

After a few hours, Hermione awoke. Her eyes darted to her arm. It was blue! Then, it faded to a pink, then to peach, then to the color it was supposed to be.

Ron was sleeping. He became tired of watching Hermione, and he had dozed off at some point. Beside him, the Styrofoam box was still full of beef and rice. Hermione watched Ron as she ate the rest of the beef.

Ron lifted an arm and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them, Hermione was sitting by his sleeping bag, watching over him. She set down the Styro box and she came up to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Are you?"

"Fine", she said cheerily, "Thanks…again"

Ron looked away and started crawling towards the crack on the floor. With his bare hands, he took another puzzle piece away. Inside were pieced of blank parchment. He pocketed them, and took another piece of the puzzle.

Hermione did the same, although she had no idea what they were looking for.

"We're looking for a key", Ron said blankly, as if he read Hermione's mind.

"For what?"

Ron pointed to a far corner of the room. There was a bright green door.

"I've been there. We need a key", Ron said.

They searched and searched for a key, finding different things in each puzzle piece. They found some stones, broken CDs, slippers, and popcorn. Finally, they opened each puzzle piece. They had not found a key.

Hermione had started digging through the popcorn, and Ron had started rummaging through some little pieces of clothing that looked like they belonged to a doll. They had searched through every useless thing, and they found nothing. Finally, they gave up.

In frustration, Hermione walked to the door, and started trying to pull it open. Ron had started to fix the things in his pack. He had figured out how to fix up the sleeping bag and he had put it inside when his hand brushed against something hard and rough.

He took it out. It was a small package wrapped in some rough parchment. He opened it up. An old, tarnished, silver key fell out. He smiled widely and called Hermione to come over.

"Hermione!" he shouted.

"Yeah?" she said, depressed.

"I found it"

Hermione smiled wider than Ron, and she ran over to take the key. She pocketed it then started fixing her own pack. Together, they walked to the door, grinning widely at each other.

Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all.

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Thanks for all of your awesome reviews! I'm really sorry I wasn't able to update. Our computer's internet connection failed, and y'all know the rest. Aside from that, I got writer's block. Boo to me.

_Panda- it rhymes to me…thanks anyway._

_Photochick- thank you so much. You've been reviewing like crazy_

_Bellarose- thank you, and yes, you are quite special…_

_Siriusrocks- sorry you had to wait so long._

_Relaxing picachu- Right! That's my goal exactly_

_Psychick- thank you. :)_

_Anon11- oooh, you again…!hehe. _

_Esrb- I have about 20 chapters planned, maybe more. No sequel, maybe. I'm not really sure at this point_

_King Harold- I totally agree. I hate those kinds of fics._

_Chuckles- thank you…yup, quite off. About 20 chapters?_

_Goldenflower- I like DMHG fics, but I still find interest in reading rwHg ones. So I wrote one._

_Sasami tombo- I'm sorry if you find this chapter short as well, but that's how I write fics._

_Belanna- the 'click' isn't for another few chapters. They cant fall in love just like that, can they?_

_Deep blue quill- I really don't know if there are going to be any monsters. I write plots as I type. I just go with the flow, so I'm not really sure. As for the green, I'm not sure either. I just like green…nothing special._

_Sailorhermy- thank you. I lurve detail._

_Ablondehermione- hope you're not dead yet…_

_Celi- thank you for your review!_

_I LOVE YOU ALL_

Please review, or I shan't post the next one…I'm really busy. ;)


	6. Reaching the Top

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. The thing is, as they get deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, they begin to fall deeper and deeper in love.

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 6: Reaching the Top_

Hermione Granger had started to regret that she encouraged Ron Weasley to open the bright green door. She found herself standing in a wide space of ground and staring up at a tall wall with a door at the top. There was no other way up except for a thick rope and some rickety footholds.

She hated climbing. She had tried to go Indoor Wall Climbing before, when she was ten, a few months before entering Hogwarts for the first time, and she had almost reached the top of the wall when she heard her friend cheering for her. She smiled and looked down. Suddenly she had felt dizzy because she realized that she was so high up. Even though she had a harness, and she knew it was perfectly safe, she had asked to be brought down. Ever since then, she had had a slight fear of heights. She had avoided looking down from tall buildings…now she had to face her fear.

Ron Weasley watched as Hermione Granger eyed the high wall before them. He had no problem with heights, since he had been flying with a broomstick since he was young. He sensed that Hermione was afraid. He let her stand there while he sat down.

He rummaged through his pack, and he pulled out the Never-Ending Chicken box. He had expected beef, since he hadn't finished it before he fell asleep. Instead, there were some pizza squares. He ate about two when he felt thirsty. He took a little paper cup with a plastic cover from the pack. He remembered it as "Just Enough Juice". It was similar to Never-Ending Chicken. He shook it slightly and it felt heavier. This was because of some liquid sloshing around inside it.

Hermione shook her head and started to walk back to Ron. She sat down beside him. He looked a little flustered.

"What's wrong?"

"I have to pee", Ron said, and he looked around. There were no toilets, no covered spaces.

"Go on and do it", Hermione said, "I won't look"

"Out here?" Ron looked at the ground in disgust.

"Yeah, out here…we've got to compromise"

"How about you?"

"I'm fine", Hermione said, "Ron, go on and do your thing, before you…"

"But I can't do it out here!" Ron protested, then he tilted his head in thought, "…but, but I really, really have to pee!"

Then, there was a loud thud behind them. They were staring at a huge porta-potty. It was like royalty, painted red and gold, with even more red and gold drapes. It looked like a tent. It had a golden turret. They stood up and stepped closer. Hermione looked at Ron in confusion. Ron was about to reach out, when the porta-potty shook. Suddenly there was a single knock, and the door swung open.

Hermione and Ron backed away. A little foot with a fancy shoe suddenly stepped out. Ron groaned.

"What?" Hermione whispered, not taking her eyes off the small foot.

"A Royal Scribe Elf", Ron whispered back, "They're the most obnoxious creatures on the face of this earth…except for you though…" he chuckled.

"Oh Shut—"

"I present to you…lady and gentleman," the little elf squeaked, "the magical porta-potty. This magical porta-potty was designed to appear whenever your…bladders…are full or when you are in dire need of a bath…enjoy!"

The little elf kicked the door and it swung fully open. Ron stepped inside. He found that the porta-potty was made of three rooms: men's, women's and another room that said "Pool".

He was in a hurry, so he pushed open the men's door and he saw the urinal. It was a golden urinal, beside a golden toilet, beside a golden sink, and a lot of other golden things. He quickly did his thing, and washed his hands, and splashed water on his face. He wiped his face with a soft towel then his attention was focused on a small cabinet of gold. He opened it, and his jaw hung open. In it was clothing, all in different sizes, and in all the brands of the world.

--

Meanwhile, through the women's door, Hermione heaved a dreamy sigh, having her first taste of comfort since they went through the first door. She took a long, hot bath and she changed into a hot pink Ralph Lauren top and some dark denim Guess jeans. She didn't change her shoes, since she felt that sneakers were appropriate for the Labyrinth.

--

Hermione and Ron met in the main hallway of the porta-potty, and they thanked the elf, who showed no emotion at all. They watched as the elf stepped in. The porta-potty shook and then it was gone.

Hermione was speechless.

"Wicked", Ron said, and he pulled Hermione over to where their packs lay, "we better get going"

Hermione took a deep breath and suddenly, she realized something. She gripped Ron's hand.

"What?"

Hermione pointed. The beginning of the rope was about 7 feet off the ground, and so was the first foothold. Of course, neither of them was that tall. Then, Ron had an idea. He pulled out the black and white sneakers from his pack (he put them there when he got it), and put them on.

Hermione grinned, and took the pair of pink and red sneakers from her pack. Sometimes Ron was smart, that was all there is to it. "Nice one", she called out as he grabbed the rope in his first jump. He clumsily held out his foot for the first foothold, and he steadied himself there, waiting for Hermione's jump.

Hermione was feeling nervous. What if she fell, and broke something? She looked at Ron with great uncertainty, and he gave her a knowing smile.

"Oh come on, Hermione, you—of all people…"

She took a deep breath and jumped as high as she could. The shoes made her bounce high and grabbed the robe with her left hand, while Ron took her right one. Ron pulled her up carefully and they shared the foothold, which was broader than it seemed from seven feet below.

They steadied themselves and slowly climbed up. Ron looked down once in a while to see how Hermione was doing. She was nervously looking for footholds. Ron grinned, and suddenly stopped. He couldn't believe it, but Hermione was actually attractive when she didn't know what to do.

Hermione was extremely thankful that Ron was there to help her. She quickly stepped onto the foothold. Then, she realized something. She didn't have a harness! She was free-climbing this. She panicked. She closed her eyes and whimpered, holding tightly onto the rope.

"What's with you?" Ron said.

"I can't do this" Hermione said, her eyes still closed, "I can't, I can't"

"Yes you can Hermione," Ron said, "We're nearly there"

"But…"

"Hermione, just slowly pull yourself up"

She breathed heavily and stepped nervously onto the hold, pushing her foot against the wall. She looked up. Ron was right; they were nearly there.

"You can do this Hermione, I know you can", Ron said. He couldn't leave Hermione there. "Would you like me to come fetch you?" he asked her.

"No…it's okay…" Hermione said, suddenly blushing, "Okay…"

Then, she took another deep breath, and started climbing up steadily. Finally, both of them reached the top. "Thanks, Ron", Hermione said, "…again"

"Sure", he said, confused. He stepped onto the ledge, and helped Hermione up. Hermione opened the door, and they groaned at what they saw.

The room wasn't over yet. The wall was a sick yellow, and when they opened the door, there was a thin plank of wood painted the same sick yellow that the wall was painted with. Apparently, they had to cross the plank. Hermione groaned. She was at the edge and she looked down quickly. It was a hard fall.

"Better get this over with", said Hermione, more bravely than she felt.

"Right", Ron answered. There was a thick veil of mist where the plank ended, and they couldn't see what was behind it. Ron started walking, trying to keep his balance. Hermione followed.

Silently, Hermione walked sideways, watching where her feet went next. Ron walked forward, his hands outstretched. "Like those Muggle trapeze-y people", he thought.

Suddenly, Ron lost his balance, and he gasped. Both of his hands were strained, holding on to the plank tightly. Hermione slowly turned to see what happened. She gasped as well, and she moved closer to him as quickly and as carefully as she could.

"Ron!—hand!" she shouted, and she grabbed hold of Ron's wrist. She was afraid to fall, herself, and she held on to both Ron and the plank. It seemed firmly lodged between the two ledges. The only trouble was that there wasn't enough space. Hermione carefully backed away about an inch, since that was all she could manage, and she slowly pulled Ron up.

Ron heaved a sigh of relief. "Now, we're even", he told her.

When they reached the other side, they pushed themselves through the mist. They got a little wet, and they laughed as the wind blew hard against them. When they got through the mist, they saw a tall yellow ladder leading to a trap door.

"Wait", Ron said, "Let's rest here"

"Okay", Hermione said, and she took a paper cup from her pack. Then, they started to talk.

"Thanks, Hermione", Ron said, taking her hand subconsciously. He squeezed it lightly. "Thanks"

"Sure, Ron"

Ron sighed. Hermione bit her lip. "Let's go"

They climbed the ladder quickly and they opened the trap door. To their dismay, there were three identical doors, and there was another piece of parchment tacked on the wall.

_Choose one, and go through_

_But we must really warn YOU_

_Mistakes; you cannot afford_

_Or be prepared for what's in store_

Hermione groaned, and once again, she slunk down against the wall. Another riddle. Their decision was crucial. They could not choose the wrong door.

Ron waited for Hermione to think. Hermione couldn't make a mistake; they couldn't choose the _wrong_ door…which meant, that they had to choose the _correct_ door…which meant that they had to choose the _right _door.

Hermione stood up, pulled Ron up from where he was sitting, and looked at him with a happy grin. Hermione explained it to him.

"It can't be that simple, can it?" Ron said afterwards.

"Ron, Ron, Ron" Hermione said, "Sometimes, the hardest riddles are the simplest ones"

Ron smiled at Hermione, and she smiled back. Ron waited for her to open the door on the right.

"Be my guest", Hermione said smoothly.

Ron grinned again, and he reached out for the silver handle.

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A/N: Sorry it took so long! We have quarterly tests, so I've been studying non-stop. I've also been working hard on my personal website: 

Thank you to all my reviewers!

_Deep blue quill- the liquid? It was just a sort of poison, I guess_

_Bella rose, sailorhermy, sasami tombo, king Harold, blacktears, vampirate, star of the seA, dragon slayer, goldenflower._

_Thank you!_

_I have a feeling that things are looking up for Ron and Hermione!_

PLEASE REVIEW!! I might go back to one chapter a day, since I want to finish this before Xmas!... )


	7. Underwater and Deeper Into Each Other

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 7: Underwater and Deeper Into Each Other_

Ron opened the silver handle and groaned when he looked down. He angrily stomped on the hard wooden floor, and looked further into the room. He and Hermione were on a ledge—again! How horribly has the Labyrinth tortured them? Extremely, deeply. He suddenly smiled when he realized what he was looking down at. It was a clear lake of some kind.

Hermione on the other hand, walked carefully to the right hand side of the ledge and examined the crates. There were several wooden crates. On the topmost crate, there was a piece of paper.

It said "Key".

"Ron, have a look at this", she called out.

Ron carefully moved towards Hermione and looked over her shoulder at the scrawny piece of paper in her perfect…smooth…beautifully taken-care-of hands. Wait! What was he thinking..? They were normal hands…8 fingers, 2 thumbs—a small golden ring on the left ring finger and clean cut nails—just like any other girl's.

"The Labyrinth must be affecting my mind!" he thought.

"Hey Ron, help me out with these crates", Hermione said, and she pulled one out in front of her.

Ron came over and opened the crate. There were tubes and metal canisters. Hermione looked at them and immediately recognized them.

"Diving Gear!" she squealed, "Ooh!" She took out two canisters and 2 tubes, "Ron, open the others"

There were several crates. The second one contained what Hermione called "goggles". The third one contained "flippers"

"Wow, you have weird names for your things", Ron said as he opened the fourth.

"Oh-Em-Geeee!" Hermione squealed again, when it was finally open. She bit her lip excitedly as she took out some brand new swimsuits out of the crate. She handed Ron some swimming trunks.

"Wha—", Ron said, "Why are you so ditzy today, Hermione?"

"I love these! These are my favorite brand", Hermione said. Her thoughts returned to the piece of paper and what was on it.

"I think we have to dive down there"—she pointed to the lake—"—and find a key of some sort"

Her eyes darted to the left side of the ledge. There was a red door. Ron ran carefully to it, but it wouldn't open. He went back to Hermione, and Hermione smiled. "It's not that easy, you know?"

"Okay", Hermione said, "We need a place to change"

Suddenly the Magical Porta-potty (or Porta-Loo) appeared out of nowhere and shook the ledge. Ron held Hermione's hand, and when they got over the shock of the sudden 'earthquake', they went inside the Porta potty and changed into their bathing suits.

Hermione emerged out of the Ladies' room wearing a blue one-piece suit with swirls of bright orange. Ron came out wearing swimming trunks that matched his hair. Deep inside, Ron sort of hoped that Hermione would wear the red bikini—aww, too bad.

He rolled his eyes as Hermione studied him. "Color coordinating, are we?"

"Yes, in fact I am", he replied, "and you?"

"Nope", Hermione grinned, "Hold on, let me put the gear on you"

Hermione helped him with the flippers and the goggles while explaining what they were used for.

"Ron, stay still"

Hermione went out to get the canisters, which were oxygen tanks enough for an hour, but found they weren't there anymore. She peeked below the ledge and discovered that they were there beside the lake. There was a carved ladder in the stone so they could climb down.

Hermione called Ron out of the Porta-potty they carefully climbed down. Ron went first and he had to remove the flippers before going down. When he reached the bottom, he put them on again and watched Hermione climb down…with her perfect body, perfect hair…

Then he realized that Hermione was tapping her feet in front of him and waiting for him to stand up.

"Oh, yeah", he said. He wondered why he was thinking of Hermione non-stop…maybe he liked her.

"Naah!" he thought to himself, "Impossible"

Hermione had liked tapping her foot in front of Ron. It had given her a chance to appreciate his flaming red hair, and his funny expression—which she kind of liked. Maybe she liked Ron—maybe.

"Impossible, I don't like him!" Hermione thought.

Hermione came over and helped Ron put on his oxygen tank. Ron found it heavy and Hermione found it cute that he struggled with standing up. Giving up, he sat down and waited for Hermione to put on hers.

"I could need some help, you know?" Hermione said impatiently.

"Oh—yeah sure"

Feeling embarrassed, Ron stood up and helped her. He put it on carefully. She smelled like heaven. Her hair felt so soft when his hand accidentally brushed against it.

Then, Hermione thought him how to breathe through the tube. Ron learned quickly and nodded, and they got ready to dive.

"Look for the key—but we have to stick together", Hermione said.

Everything seemed to make sense when she said it.

Hermione gave a small smile, and led him towards the shore. They slowly walked deeper into the water and soon they were underwater. Hermione led him past weeds. They looked everywhere.

The lake was bigger than it seemed. They looked through seaweed, under rocks—everywhere. There wasn't any sign of life in the lake—well, except for the plants, but that was it. They looked in crevices and in small cracks…they weren't even sure what kind of key they were looking for. They dug in the underwater sand and found a few rocks—no key.

Also, they were running out of time. They had less than fifteen minutes left for them to find a key.

There was nothing. Hermione led Ron towards a higher ground (which was in a **cave**) that she found…suddenly there was a loud beeping about 30 meters from the cave. Hermione checked the oxygen level. Gone.

She couldn't breathe. They were way below the surface to reach it, and Ron gave her and alarming look. He quickly pulled her towards the cave. As they neared it, Hermione was about to faint. Ron squeezed her hand, and he thought of giving him his oxygen, then there was a another series of beeping. His air was gone as well. He quickly pulled off his oxygen tank and he swam as fast as he could to the cave's shore. He pulled Hermione onto the shore, and to his horror—she was lying unconscious.

His mind quickly reflected on everything that happened. This was his mistake… He quickly pushed lightly on her stomach, and some water came out. He squeezed her hand. He knew nothing much about Muggle healing. He was so desperate. He pumped out a little more water out of her. She wouldn't wake up.

He breathed heavily. Why couldn't it have been him? Why? He looked up as if talking to someone up there. "Why me?" he whispered, asking the fates for something better.

He thought of something: resuscitation…mouth-to-mouth. He shook his head at the thought. "No thanks" then, his eyes darted to Hermione.

She was lying unconscious: eyes closed, mouth open…desperately in need of help.

After all, it wasn't really kissing…

He took a deep breath and leaned in, after every three seconds, he checked to see if Hermione was awake already. Every time, he saw no sign of consciousness and tried again. Then, Hermione's eyes opened. She held Ron's hand, and feebly squeezed it.

"Thanks", Hermione said, and she carefully stood up. Ron wiped his mouth.

"I can't believe you did that for me…" Hermione said a few minutes later.

"Right. But we still haven't found the key"

"It's getting late. Let's try again tomorrow, okay?"

-

They set up camp in the cave, as far from the shore as they could get. Ron went to the other side of the shore, and took both of their packs. He helped Hermione with her sleeping bag, and they took out the Never-Ending Chicken, and they ate some finger foods. They hadn't realized that they were so hungry until they ate up all of it and started sipping the Just-Enough Juice like crazy.

There was that awkward silence again.

"Oh, I wish he'd just talk to me", Hermione couldn't help but think.

"I kissed her! I kissed Hermione!" Ron thought.

So, sad to say, no progress. They remained silent for the rest of the night.

Hermione nodded at Ron, and he acknowledged it. Then, she crawled inside her sleeping bag and fell asleep.

Ron was just as tired as Hermione, but he couldn't get to sleep.

"What will she think of me tomorrow?"

-

They were awakened by the thud of the magic porta-potty/loo. Ron scratched his head and sat up, yawned, and then quickly entered the Porta Loo.

Hermione turned, faced the ceiling of the cave, and tried to recall what happened the day before. It wasn't long until she stood up too.

Hermione showered quickly, and she changed into a new swimsuit as well. This time, it was the red bikini Ron had secretly wanted her to wear. She didn't really like all the other ones in the closet, so she settled for the red one. She wrapped a towel around her waist, and sat on a chair beside the pool.

Ron opted to take a long, warm bath. This was because he was really cold from the night before, but mainly because he still didn't know how to talk to Hermione about what happened last night.

Soon enough, he found himself practicing some lines.

"_Hermione, about last night… does it count as a kiss?" _

Silence.

"No, that's not right…"

"_Hermione, last night…did you feel anything?"_

"Of course not, she was unconscious"

Deep breath.

"Hermione…", he started again, hoping this time it would sound right.

"Yes?" Hermione answered from outside.

"Hermione?" Ron's heart sank. She had heard everything he said…maybe.

"Ron, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yes I am, yeah…of course I am, of course"

"Hurry up then, I want to go for a swim with you", Hermione's impatient voice answered.

Ron's eyes lit up. So maybe she hadn't heard it.

He quickly washed off the soap and shampoo, and dressed into some swimwear.

-

Ron entered the room with the pool. The pool itself was huge, and it was surrounded by several comfortable-looking chairs, and a small self-service bar.

Hermione had her back turned to the entrance, so all Ron could see was her beautiful brown hair.

"Hermione?" Ron called.

Hermione turned her head. "Yes?"

Ron saw the bikini. Bliss.

"Wow…you look…"

"Oh shut up, Ron. I didn't really have any choice"

"Riiiiight", Ron grinned.

Then he remembered the mouth-to-mouth.

Ron focused on not tripping. He made it to the pool without slipping. Hermione smiled.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Hermione—Hermione…about last night…"

"Yes…?"

"Wh—when you were unconscious…"

"You gave me mouth-to-mouth"

"…yeah"

"Thanks Ron"

"I hope you didn't take it personally…"

"Oh of course not…" Hermione said, although her voice faltered.

"Great, you're welcome; by the way", Ron answered quickly, although his voice faltered too.

Then Hermione started crying.

"Ron, all I could think about for the past few days is you saving me…and all I could do is say thank you. I've been really mean to you before the maze, and now I just feel like I owe you a lot for saving me tons of times now"

"You've saved me too…", Ron said.

Hermione forced a grin, and then her face fell. "It's not enough", she said, and she got out of the pool.

Hermione sat down on her sleeping bag, and started putting back the food into the packs.

"Hermione, are you alright?"

"We better start looking again", she said, trying not to break down again.

"Okay then—"

He was interrupted by a loud sound. He wheeled around, and the Porta Loo was gone.

Hermione stood up and put in the sleeping bags into the packs, and she picked one up.

"I'll take it Hermione. You must be tired still", he took it gently from Hermione. Hermione smiled.

Hermione bit her lip, took a few steps closer to Ron. She drew in some breath. Then, she leaned closer, and kissed him lightly.

Ron was surprised.

"Thank you", Ron said with a lot of uncertainty, not sure how to take a kiss.

They started towards the exit of the cave, and then Ron suddenly tripped.

Hermione gasped, and she scrambled to help Ron up.

When Ron finally stood up, under the weight of the packs, his eyes were wide. He took Hermione's hand, and led her to a spot in the damp sand where a shiny golden key lay.

-

-

-

A/N: Look, I'm really sorry it took so long. I'll really try to type in a chapter a day, IF YOU REVIEW.

_Angela Dawne- you're welcome!_

_Xxkatherinexx- this was pretty romantic, I guess_

_Panda-monium- oh no, I LOVE your complaints_

_Goodgirl13- sorry for the wait. Hope you enjoyed this one._

_Chuckles-d-hobbit- I have finals coming up! Aaaah! Thanks for the review. I hope you review this one!_

_Katsura- I guess. Lol._

_Blacktears-animated monster…hmmm…?_

_King Harold- thank you so much!_

_Goldenflower- thank you as well_

_Jakmakai- sorry if this update took so long!_

_Coco-pop- I so agree._

_Deep blue quill- thank you._

_Thinkingofaname- I guess they DO like each other!_

_**Please review!**_

_**-punknpotter**_


	8. Love in Outer Space

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 8: Love in Outer Space_

The door from the room with the lake opened into a small room, about the size of a comfort room cubicle. It smelled of mint. On the right wall, there was a red button, surrounded by a sheet of steel. Above that button, there was a sign.

**Press Me.**

Ron glanced at Hermione, Hermione glanced back. "Well?" Hermione said impatiently, "press it then"

Ron nervously reached for the button and pressed it lightly…nothing happened.

"Oh let me do it"

Hermione pressed it once and then suddenly, the wall disappeared, and it was replaced by a glass case with some Astronaut suits inside.

"Why me?" Ron thought out loud.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Focus, Ron", she said, "How do we get them out"

poof

A sign appeared right in the middle of the glass case.

**Kick Me.**

Hermione backed up, getting ready to kick.

"Hermione, let me do it", Ron said, and he kicked the glass as hard as he could. There was a shattering noise, but there weren't any shards of glass on the bright blue floor. It just disappeared. Hermione, however, was surprised by the loud sound, and she backed up against Ron, who found the situation amazing. Hermione's hair smelled so good, and it sort of tickled his nose…

Hermione blushed and quickly moved toward the glassless case, and Ron smoothed out his clothes. Hermione took out two of the suits. She gave one to Ron, who reluctantly took it and examined it. Hermione quickly put hers on, then she noticed that Ron was having some trouble.

Ron took the suit, and tried to put one foot into it. "Oomph!"

"Here Ron, let me help you"

"No it's okay…", Ron said sheepishly.

"Ron, I don't think we have any time for this, let me help you"

She took the suit in her left hand, and she held Ron's hand with her right. Ron's knees suddenly felt so weak, although Hermione's grip felt so light. She helped Ron put his left foot in, and the suit felt so new to him that he took a step back, but fell forward instead. Hermione caught him just in time, and grinned. He quickly inserted his other foot, and Hermione helped him with the arms and zipped him up.

"Thank you"

"You're welcome," Hermione said promptly, "Could you help me too?"

She turned her back on him and he saw that her suit wasn't zipped yet. "I can't reach it, so could you zip it up for me, Ron?"

"Uh—yeah, sure"

He zipped it up a few centimeters, but her beautiful brown hair was in the way. He considered pushing it away, but instead, he said, "Hermione, could you push your beautif, your hair away please?"

Hermione took her hair, and moved it over her shoulders. Ron could see her neck, and couldn't help but wonder why she smelled so good. After a few seconds, he realized that he had been staring at her neck…he then quickly zipped her up, and stood straight, looking around the room, his ears turning red.

Hermione then started looking around too, well, it looked like she was…but she was really trying to recall the feel of Ron's hand near her neck. It was so gentle, as if he was trying to assemble a ship in a bottle. He zipped her up so delicately, and so carefully. He even asked her to move away her hair, as if he was afraid to touch her. Why has she been feeling so differently about Ron? Was this a side-effect of the Labyrinth?

She exhaled. "How do we get out?" she said finally.

poof

There was another sign, on the wall opposite the door they came through.

**Push me.**

Hermione attempted to push the wall, but nothing happened. Ron helped her out, and the wall was pushed farther. Hermione grinned at Ron, although he didn't notice. They pushed harder until the wall disappeared into thin air. Hermione and Ron fell forward onto the rocky ground of who-knows-where.

Then they saw the sign.

**Welcome to Pluto! Population as of NOW: 0**

They stood up.

**Welcome to Pluto! Population as of NOW: 2**

Hermione was beginning to get really confused. They couldn't really be on Pluto, could they? I mean, nobody has ever gone to Pluto, right? She looked over to Ron, who sat down on some rock. Then she felt it, it was COLD! Freezing cold, and she didn't know what to do. She only had the packs with her, and so far, the only thing that could provide even a little warmth was the sleeping bag, and she didn't think it would be enough.

"Hermione," Ron called, "It's freezing, freezing…"

Hermione suddenly panicked. It seemed like the temperature was dropping, and it was getting even colder. What more, it was so dark there. Funnily enough, although Hermione didn't see them before, there were street lights scattered around the bare ground of the planet.

Ron suddenly jumped from the rock he was sitting on.

"Burning, burning, hot! Hot!"

Hermione looked down to see the rock glowing, and suddenly there was a loud sound coming from around the rock and the rock was replaced by what looked like a huge Tupperware. Hermione slowly lifted the lid to reveal a two pieces of parchment.

Ron took the smaller piece and Hermione examined the bigger one.

Ron held the parchment in his hands. On it was a sketch of what looked like a small crystal. Hermione's parchment had a rhyme written on it. Personally, Hermione was getting so sick of poems.

_Look for crystals, there are three_

_If back on earth you want to be_

_One is as blue as the deep blue sea_

_For a box containing a key_

_To open a sphere with sparkling green_

_In order to find crystal three_

"Three crystals? If finding them is as hard as finding the key in that other room…", Ron started to say.

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" Hermione responded.

"I guess not, Hermione, we better start looking"

"The first good idea I've heard from you Ron", Hermione grinned, and she started to fold up the parchment.

Hermione and Ron started looking around. The ground was quite solid, so the crystal couldn't have been hidden anywhere underground.

After about thirty minutes, Ron was starting to get frustrated and Hermione was becoming impatient.

Hermione took out the parchment again, but she couldn't read it because she was far from a lamp, so she moved the paper to another angle, towards the light.

**Flick.**

Something happened with the paper. The writing seemed to change. Hermione was surprised and she moved the angle of the paper away from the light, and back again. She discovered that if you put the paper at the correct angle, another set of clues appeared. She was wrong. There was no new set, technically. There was only one word:

_Metamorphic._

"Metamorphic, metamorphic…", Hermione whispered, "Ron! Help me think, Ron…"

"I have no idea what that is, Hermione", Ron admitted.

"I've heard...no—metamorphic, metamorphic…Meta—", Hermione then remembered: "Rocks!"

"What?" Ron said, confused.

"There are three kinds of rocks", Hermione explained, "Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic"

Hermione hung her head, and sat down on one of the rocks near to her.

"There must be millions of rocks here", Hermione said.

"What do you mean?"

"Clearly, Ron, what we are looking for is inside a brittle rock", Hermione said, "but I don't know where to start"

Ron took out the small piece of parchment and looked at the picture. The crystal was small, only a few inches, in length and width.

He exhaled. "Well, it probably isn't a very big rock", he said, "Seeing as the crystal is quite small"

Hermione grinned. She looked around and saw the smallest rock she could see. Then, she threw it against the rock she was just sitting on. It broke in half, but nothing was inside it. Ron got the idea and started picking out small rocks and taking them to Hermione so she could throw them against the bigger rocks.

So far, there was nothing. Suddenly, at about the 25th rock, it broke into several pieces and then something shimmery fell onto the ground with a small clink.

It was the blue crystal.

Hermione, taken by surprise, hugged Ron quickly and took out the parchment.

"Okay," she said finally, "We need a box for the crystal to open"

"That plastic box over there," Ron suggested, pointing to the Tupperware box where the parchment came from, "But I guess there's nothing there"

Hermione shrugged, "Can't hurt to double-check", she said. To Ron, it seemed like the most sensible thing in the universe. Why was Hermione so smart? Why was she so beautiful?

Wait! Beautiful? That must not be the same Hermione…that Hermione was bookworm Granger, the same Hermione who he was angry at just a few days ago, on the train ride…the same Hermione…who wore the red bikini…who he saved from the portal, who kissed him…the same Hermione with the beautiful hair…okay, maybe she was beautiful.

Hermione walked over to the huge Tupperware and she turned it upside down. Something fell from it. It was a small metal box, engraved with several symbols.

Hermione took it and examined it. There was a small hole in the left hand side, obviously for the crystal. Ron, who was holding the crystal, gave it to Hermione, who took it with a wide smile.

The box didn't open. Instead, there was music, sort of like from the world's smallest piano, because it had a high, squealing sound. It lasted for a few seconds, and then the box sprung open.

Inside it was a glass key. They could see that inside the key was some kind of blue liquid. Floating around the liquid was something like a grain of rice. There was very tiny writing on the grain of rice, and it read:

_Snap_

"Snap?" Hermione bit her lower lip, "What does that mean?"

"I really don't know, Hermione", Ron answered…then it dawned on him.

He snapped his fingers.

**Snap, Snap, Snap, Snap**

Then the music started again. There was a light breeze, and with each snap, the breeze began to blow harder.

Although Hermione could not figure out how breeze could get all the way to Pluto, what Ron was doing seemed to work, and so she snapped along.

**Snap, Snap…**

Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth hung open as rainbow colors suddenly started to fill the space around them. They started swirling around, and the music began to be fainter and fainter, and suddenly louder and louder, until the colors started to become solid, and then they seemed to harden, creating a round mixture of distinct colors. Then, it fell lightly onto the ground, almost bouncing, having formed a sphere.

Hermione stared, and Ron grinned at his success. He took the sphere in his hands and broke it open. From it fell a piece of parchment and a bright green crystal.

Hermione pocketed the crystal.

_For crystal three, you will have to wait_

_You better rest anyway, it's getting late_

_Wait till a blast of sun shall come_

_And a breeze shall start to hum_

_As the light shall hit and shine_

_Take the crystal and waste no time_

"We'll have to wait for a blast of light," Hermione said.

"Hermione, its freezing", Ron said, shivering.

"Here", Hermione said, and she walked over to him, and they sat down.

She hugged him, and he got the idea. He hugged her as tight as he could, and they instantly felt considerably warmer.

"Thanks", Ron breathed, and he felt suddenly a deeper kind of warmth…warmth in his inner self that he wanted to feel for the rest of his life…and his consciousness told him that it was all because of Hermione.

Hermione felt so toasty as Ron held her in his arms, and she began to think that maybe she did like him. Maybe, it wasn't the Labyrinth, but instead her own self…but it was the craziest idea ever. She never thought that she'd like Ron as more than a friend.

"_The same Ron", she thought, "the same Ron that's gotten me into trouble, that opened the door, that…that…that, has done so much for me these past couple of moments…"_

Maybe she wasn't so crazy after all.

"Ron", Hermione said aloud, "We have to wait for the blast of light, and then what?"

"I dunno", Ron said.

"Hit…?Hit what?" Hermione said, referring to the poem.

"The crystal?" Ron said, sleepily.

Hermione stood up and helped Ron up too.

"We have to set it at a position that the light could hit", Hermione talked to herself, "but we don't know where the light would come from"

As if an answer to her query, there was a sudden bright flash coming from the left-hand side. Suddenly, she hurried and set the crystal on a tall, smooth stone, and the light hit it at the most exact angle.

A blast of light hit them, and they had to close their eyes. There was a loud explosion that sounded as if it came from everywhere. Then, the light disappeared, and they thought it safe to open their eyes. The tall, smooth stone was not there anymore.

It was replaced by a bright red door.

Hermione and Ron hurried over to it and quickly started turned the knob.

Then Ron said, "Look"

Hermione looked down at the knob she was holding.

It was made of a bright red crystal, so beautiful and delicate, she was almost afraid to turn it.

"It's beautiful", she said, admiring it.

"Yeah, it is", Ron replied, but he didn't really mean the crystal…he meant Hermione.

A/N: I know I promised a chapter a day but I was really disappointed by the number of reviews that turned up. I was really hoping for more. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter.

_M.K Slade- thanks you. If you have any suggestions for the next room, you could include it in your next review (if you review again)_

_Deep blue quill- I know chapt 7 wasn't my best work. Sigh. But thanks for the review. _

_Scubagirl- thank you_

_Katsura Yuugao- harry? I dunno. I guess you'll have to wait until the end to find out how he's taking all this_

_Lorelai- thanks. I loved your review_

_DesiraeSCLT11- thanks so much._

_Ratica- maybe three chapters a week if I get a lot of reviews…wink wink._

_jesus? no.. maybe moses – thank you!_

_MysteryALASKA- I think ill update when I get REVIEWS! Lol_

_Only-harry- I don't exactly get what you mean…thanks anyway._

_BasketKiwi- I hope this chapter wasn't disappointing for you… _

_chucklesdhobbit- thanks!_

_Dust Bunny- I thought I'd disappeared too. Actually, I was away for Christmas and New Year so I didn't have much chance to write._

_Goblin Monkey- thank you. _

_Goldenflower- I wouldn't abandon any of my stories, but I was angry at myself for not updating sooner. I was quite busy…_

_Photochick129- thank you so much. I hope that this chapter didn't take too long._

**PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!**

**-punknpotter**


	9. Sick of Colors

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 9: Sick of Colors_

Hermione's head was close to exploding as she put one foot inside the next room.

"Is this the eighth or ninth room?" Hermione pondered aloud. She looked over at Ron, who was still in the other room waiting for her to step fully inside.

She noticed the floor. It was made up of tiles of different colors and sizes. The door was about 100 meters away from where she was standing. She put her other foot inside, and analyzed the room. She sensed something wrong.

"Ron, come look at this", Hermione said, looking over at Ron. Ron peered over Hermione's shoulder and shook his head slowly.

"Hermione, it can't be that easy, can it?"

"I don't think so", Hermione answered, "Hand me the never-ending chicken"

Ron took out the never-ending chicken from his pack. It was full of French fries and some ketchup. Hermione took a fry from it and threw it onto a red tile. It suddenly disappeared. She took another fry and threw it onto a blue tile. It melted and it was nothing more than grease. Ron took a fry and threw it onto a yellow tile and nothing happened to it.

"Step on the yellow ones," Ron said, and Hermione nervously nodded as she took a step onto another yellow one. Ron held her hand as she came closer and closer to the door. She and Ron stepped onto a big yellow one, and something moved from under it.

Hermione gasped and Ron held her hand tighter as the tile lifted them up from the floor. Hermione held her arms over her head, expecting to crash with the multi-colored ceiling, and Ron did the same.

Hermione braced herself and pushed herself closer to Ron. They were so close to the ceiling. She closed her eyes quickly as they were an inch from the ceiling, and when she opened her eyes again a few seconds later, she breathed a sigh of relief as she discovered that they had not crashed into the ceiling but rather, they came through the ceiling.

Ron looked around.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Ron asked, as he saw that they were in a room filled with elegant furniture.

"I'm fine, Ron…thanks for asking," Hermione said weakly. She looked around too and saw that there was a bed, a set of drawers, an open door leading to a bathroom and a mini-fridge. They could as well be in a hotel room.

"We're in the rest room", Ron said, pointing to a sign over the bed.

_Welcome to the Rest Room. Take some time to relax and refresh yourselves. You have exactly 2 hours, 58 minutes and 46 seconds left. Once your time is up, you will return back to the Labyrinth._

_Rarely does a rest room appear in a Labyrinth. Use your time wisely._

Hermione grinned, and she laid down on the extremely comfortable bed.

"There's only one bed…" Ron complained.

"That's because Labyrinth doors usually appear when one is alone", Hermione explained, as she took off her astronaut suit, revealing a pink shirt and jogging pants.

Ron frowned.

"You could use your sleeping bag…or you could stay here beside me…It's a huge bed", Hermione suggested, and she rolled over to the edge of the bed, pulling up the covers to her neck, "Good night," she muttered, and Ron sat down on the other side.

There wasn't any harm…just for thirty minutes. Ron quickly took off his astronaut suit and lied down on the other edge of the bed. "Good night", he said awkwardly.

In those one and a half hours that they slept, they dreamt…very similar dreams.

Hermione moved to the left as she dreamt about being back in Hogwarts, in the common room…

_It was empty, and Hermione stood in front of the bright fire. Suddenly, the portrait hole creaked open and Ron Weasley came in, smiling._

"_Ron" Hermione's voice seemed so distant._

"_Hermione, Hermione…"_

_Then he came closer and kissed her._

Hermione shot up from the bed, and she looked over at Ron, who was still sleeping. Little did she know that Ron was dreaming about them.

"_Hermione…", Ron said, and Hermione took his hand without saying anything in return. Ron felt flustered and confused, and then Hermione stopped. Music was playing somewhere. It was really dark._

"_Ron", she said. Her voice seemed really distant, although she was really close to him. It was also so cold, and they could see their breath._

_Suddenly, without any hesitance, Ron inched closer and kissed her._

Ron looked around the room and saw Hermione bending over the small fridge. She held a bottle of water in her left hand, and then she seemed to notice that he was awake.

Ron eyed her curiously, and she looked at him with concern. She sensed something wrong, and she took out another bottle of water. She gently closed the door and walked over to him. She sat down on the bed, beside where he was sitting up.

He was still really speechless. He took the bottle from Hermione and opened it. He took a drink, and he noticed that Hermione was having trouble opening hers. Without saying anything, his hand brushed onto hers as he took the bottle and opened it for her.

Hermione bit her lip and looked at him with her head tilted to the side. He frowned and gave her the bottle.

"What?" he asked, brushing his hair away from his eyes.

"Are you…alright?" somehow Hermione couldn't find the words to say, and she just sat there, waiting for him to answer.

"Nothing…" Ron said, "A dream…that's all"

"D'you have nightmares?" Hermione asked, her interest rising. She wondered if he dreamed about what she had.

"Not exactly—but never mind about that", Ron said. Then he looked behind him, over to the sign. They had a little over an hour to go. Hermione took a sip of water.

"Ron, could you move over a little?" Hermione asked awkwardly.

She lay down on the bed slowly and she pulled the covers up to her neck. She turned to Ron.

She whispered, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"Yes I am, Hermione"

"You seem pretty shaken"

"I guess so, but it's nothing to worry about"

"Because—"Hermione started, "—Because I had a dream too"

"What was it about?"

Then Ron started worrying. They might have had the same dream…

"Nothing really, nothing", Hermione said, "Must be because of the Labyrinth"

"Yeah", Ron breathed.

They talked about random things until their time was nearly up. They talked about Hogwarts and about Harry and everyone else they knew. They talked about the Labyrinth.

Hermione stood up and she walked over to the bathroom. When she came out, Ron stood up and entered the bathroom himself.

When he came out, something was ringing. He saw the sign over the headboard. Their time was up.

Hermione was sitting, waiting for something to happen. Ron took a seat too. Hermione grinned, and he grinned back. He couldn't help but notice Hermione's smile. It was blinding and beautiful.

Then, a strong wind blew, and they stood up slowly, holding each others hand.

He was then blinded by something else. There was a loud ripping sound, which sounded ten times more horrible over the loud ringing. Then, there was a portal blinking different lights.

"It must be a portal," Hermione remarked, and she pulled Ron closer to it. Ron covered his eyes. He was so sick of all these colors.

Hermione stepped slowly inside it and Ron quietly followed.

000

They emerged out of the portal. They were really dizzy coz it was spinning inside. Ron's ears were red, not from the spinning but from the fact that Hermione held his hands the entire time…tightly.

"Ron, are you okay," Hermione asked, her brows furrowing.

"Yeah," Ron said, "I think."

It was only then that they got a good look around the place they were at. It was really colorful. Hermione shifted her weight uneasily and looked at where they were standing.

"O my…"Hermione shouted, and Ron looked down.

"Hermione!" he shouted. They were in some sort of colorful quicksand.

Hermione looked at Ron with a terrified look. She was sinking quickly. She had learned before that you weren't supposed to move when you got stuck in quicksand. But no matter how still she stayed, she sank at the same rate.

Ron looked around quickly and saw a colorful handle stuck to a colorful wall. He held onto it, and hoisted himself up to firm ground. He brushed some sticky sand away from him as he held out his hand to Hermione.

Hermione took it slowly and Ron pulled her out. The quicksand was pulling her in, and with every one of Ron's attempt to help her out, the sticky and colorfully muddy sand splattered onto her.

Ron couldn't help but notice that even though Hermione was getting colorfully dirty, she looked gorgeous.

Ron took one more try at helping Hermione out, and Hermione was slowly pulled out of the colorful quicksand.

"Ron!" Hermione said, turning to Ron, "Thanks, thank you so much"

She was almost crying…and she hugged Ron so tightly that it was really awkward for him. He patted Hermione at the back awkwardly and when she pulled away, tears were streaming down her face.

"Hold on…" Ron said slowly, and he reached out to Hermione's cheek. He slowly wiped away some quicksand, and Hermione managed to smile.

"Thanks", she said, her voice shaking.

Ron helped Hermione sit down on a colorful rock. They were in a forest of some kind, a very colorful forest.

Hermione looked up. She saw trees of colorful trunks with colorful leaves shaped in hearts and stars.

Ron looked around. There were little ducks walking around. Each duck was of a different color, and the mother duck looked at Ron and led the little ones to the small colorful lake.

Suddenly, Hermione put her hand on Ron's, and Ron looked at Hermione.

"What?" he said.

"Look, Ron! A hotdog stand!" she pointed.

There it was, a colorful hotdog stand, decorated with stripes. There was a person behind the counter, although Ron couldn't see him clearly.

Ron stood up and pulled up Hermione from the rock.

Hermione wiped away a stray tear and she walked with Ron to the hotdog stand.

"Dude", the person called, "Hotdogs, dude!"

Ron walked closer and got a good look at the boy. He was a young man, in his early 20's. He had dark brown hair, and a golden brown tan.

"Dude…oh, and dudette…want some hotdogs?" he asked in a high but raspy voice.

"How much are they?" Hermione asked. The boy looked pretty cute, and she was suddenly really shy. She wasn't aware that Ron was glaring.

"Dude, how much?" the boy said, "Free, of course"

"Then we'll have two," Hermione said promptly, and she turned to Ron, who suddenly pretended to smile at her.

"Wicked awesome, dude", then he turned his back to the little thing where the hotdogs are cooked.

"You're flirting", Ron pretended to joke.

"No I'm not", Hermione said, still blushing.

The boy turned to them, holding out two hotdogs on buns, motioning to the condiments. Ron took them and gave one to Hermione.

Hermione started to put some mustard on it, when the boy asked, "You want some soda? We have Mocha Cola, Stripe, Wanta, and some Whootbeer…and some butterbeer too"

"I'll have some whootbeer", Hermione said, perkily.

"I want Mocha Cola, whatever that is", Ron said breathing heavily.

The boy gave them the drinks and he took off his apron, "Wicked awesome, it's time for my break!"

He jumped out from behind the counter and joined Hermione and Ron at the bench they were sitting on. Ron glared as the boy started a conversation with Hermione.

"Yeah, dude, so my name's Spats"

"That's a very nice name," Hermione commented.

"What's your name, dude?"

"Hermione", she said, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"That's a wicked awesome name, Hermione", Spats said.

Then the conversation went longer and longer until…

"Red"

"Yeah, dude, I love the color red too", Spats said, running his hands through his hair.

Ping!

"It was wicked awesome talking with you, 'Mione", Spats said, "But my break's over"

He quickly jumped over the counter again, and as soon as he put on his apron, the stall disappeared.

Hermione took the last bite of her hotdog and the wrapper disappeared.

000

Hermione and Ron started walking again. Hermione figured it must have been around noon because it was getting really hot.

Hermione took off her sweater.

"It's getting really, really hot Ron!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yeah", Ron agreed, "and I think we're lost"

He said this all very coldly. He was still really jealous of Hermione and Spats.

"I think so too", Hermione admitted.

Then Ron saw the multicolored lake. The ducks were still sitting in it, and the little ones were flapping about happily.

"Let's go swimming," Ron said, and Hermione smiled genuinely at him, making his insides melt.

Hermione took her pack and took out the red bikini from it. She still had it from that time in that lake.

Ron had his swimwear too. Ron turned back so Hermione could change and Hermione giggled while Ron changed behind her.

Ron dipped his toes into the lake and it felt really good and refreshing. He stepped inside, and when he went farther and farther from Hermione, the water became colder and colder.

Then Hermione sensed that there was something wrong. She dipped her foot into the lake and then the other. She stayed there in that spot, without wetting any other body part. She stood there and called out Ron's name.

"What is it?" Ron answered.

"Please, get back here"

But Ron was stubborn and he frowned at Hermione.

"What for?" he called out.

"I have a bad feeling a—"

Hermione didn't get to finish her sentence as Ron screamed in a very, very raspy voice.

"Hermi—"Ron shouted, "Herm—"

Something got him, or was it _someone_?

Then, in confusion, Hermione stepped quickly out of the water.

The whirlpool started, it pulled Ron to the center. Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth.

Ron was screaming, and Hermione was really, really stressed. She was afraid that if she jumped in now, the whirlpool would suck her in too. She stayed put, then she decided to look around for something to save Ron.

Nothing.

She looked helplessly at Ron, who was flailing his hands. The ducks had disappeared, and only the faint sound of quacking was left. Hermione bit her lower lip.

She tried to find Ron amidst all the colors. His hands were gone. They've disappeared. The whirlpool had suddenly stopped.

Hermione got a running start and dove into the waters. She looked for Ron, but she couldn't see much.

She was starting to lose hope. Then somebody grabbed her ankle.

It was Ron. He motioned for her to keep quiet, and he pointed below him.

It was a small door at the bottom of the lake.

000

A/N: Yay! Finally! I had writers block AND finals. So, I'm back! Yay! Thank you for the reviews! They were wicked awesome!

_Aweaslylove- this isn't exactly drama but I think you'll like the next chapter!_

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_**PLEASE REVIEW OR I WON"T WRITE THE NEXT ONE!**_

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	10. Katarina

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 10: Katarina_

"Welcome!" a husky female voice said, "to Mexico City!"

Hermione and Ron whirled around to see a dark haired girl, a little younger than them, with bright red braces and pretty brown eyes. She had a wide smile too. She was wearing a colorful flowing dress so Hermione couldn't see her shoes. She also had creamy almond-colored skin that made Hermione look at her own pale skin and frown.

"My name is Katarina", she spoke slowly but so consistently with a hint of a Spanish accent, "and I'm here to help you on your quest"

"Quest?" Ron said, staring into Katarina's eyes, "we just want to get out, really"

"Exactly!" Katarina said, smiling, "To exit this room, you will have to go to three different places, Mexico City being the first"

"And how do we go to these places, exactly?"

"How should I know?", Katarina asked, her eyes twinkling.

"Aren't you supposed to help?" a frustrated Hermione asked.

"I was kidding…" Katarina laughed. Ron's insides started to melt. "You can go use a car, a train, a bus, a plane…any Muggle way…"

"We don't have any money", Ron said suddenly.

Katarina held up her hand and flicked an imaginary wand. A small brown envelope appeared, floating. Katarina moved her hand towards Hermione and the enveloped moved towards Hermione and she caught it. She looked into it and saw the biggest amount of money she had ever seen at any one time.

"I'm really not sure how much is in there", Katarina said, her smile not as wide, "Truly, Hermione—Ron—I'm just the messenger…it's sort of my job…"

"How did you get this job?" Hermione asked, "it must be hard to find a labyrinth door and just apply…?"

She was oblivious to the fact that Katarina's smile was slowly disappearing.

"I got stuck in the Labyrinth…" she said with a brave face, although she didn't sound the part. Her voice was faltering. Ron suddenly gave her a reassuring smile.

"Stuck? How can you get stuck?" Hermione asked, her brows furrowed.

"Certain things can happen… things that are not concerned with time, but of the Labyrinth's magic. It is not full of obstacles, but there are creatures—creatures that can take you away from your path and change your destiny. I learned that I was destined to become a famous alchemist, working for the Mexican Ministry of Magic, but now I am destined to be…nothing more than a tour guide"

Ron felt sorry for Katarina, although he didn't know what to do. Hermione seemed not to care about Katarina's feelings and that annoyed him a lot. Hermione didn't usually act this way.

On the other hand, Hermione was feeling really jealous, especially after seeing Ron's genuine smile at Katarina. Hermione, acting on impulse, held Ron's hand and gripped it tightly, causing Ron to look at their intertwined fingers and become unsure of what to feel.

"So, anyway, my friends—this is your first city", Katarina said, back in her perky mood, "Your job is to collect the magical sombreros"

"Where can we find them?" Ron asked.

"Different places. As long as you stay in this small town, you will be safe" Katarina said, smiling widely, "and, by the way, the first one is over there, in the bushes", her voice almost a whisper.

"How many are there?"

"I'm not sure—maybe 3? Under every sombrero is a note, giving a clue to where you can find the next one. Make sure you keep all of them, how many there may be. I wish you good luck. I shall see you at your next destination"

Then she disappeared, the wind blowing from the east.

Hermione tucked some hair behind her ear and pulled Ron to the bushes where Katarina pointed them to.

Hermione saw the multi-colored hats. As soon as she touched it, it hovered to shoulder level and Ron stepped backwards. Hermione looked at him, irritated. A small piece of pink paper fell from under the sombrero. She picked it up and read it, with Ron looking over her shoulder.

_Delicious._

"Delicious?" Ron repeated and looked at Hermione.

"It must pertain to food" Hermione said and she looked around. They weren't alone. There were several townsfolk going about their business, not really minding the two. Someone would pass by sometimes and wave at them.

Hermione approached the nearest man and asked him, "Are there any places to eat here?"

Then she realized she wasn't speaking English anymore. She was speaking Spanish.

The man responded and she understood it clearly.

"There are canteens on either side of town", said the man and he smiled. People there sure were friendly. "Just go straight ahead for Canteen #24 and over there for Canteen #36"

Hermione thanked the man and went over to Ron, who was wearing the sombrero. Hermione managed to smile and said to Ron, "I think it's best if we stick together and go to that one first"

They went straight ahead, like the man told them to. Hermione sped towards the eatery, decorated with confetti-like pieces of paper and posters and signs of different kinds. The place seemed friendly, although not many people were there. There was a clock on the wall with several different words and numbers instead of 1-12. Hermione wasn't sure what to think about the place, then someone approached her. It was nice old lady, wearing something similar to Katarina's dress.

"May I help you?" she spoke choppy English, but Hermione understood. Ron appeared by her side and said, "Where is the sombrero?"

"I am not sure what you are talking about, my child, there are many sombreros around you, take your pick"

Ron looked around and saw that there were indeed at least twenty sombreros of different sizes and colors, but nothing similar to the first one.

"Oh, the one we're looking for isn't here, thank you" Hermione said politely.

The old lady smiled. "You look very hungry, my children, a meal?"

"Oh no thank you", Hermione replied and started to exit.

"No, no have some food. I shall have some delicious food prepared, and you shall eat, free of charge"

"Okay, sure, thanks", Ron said quickly and Hermione gave him a look that said, "You should NOT have done that"

Ron ignored it, and they sat down at the nearest table.

"Ron, we don't have much time…we have to go"

"On the contrary, my dear child, we have all the time in the world—Hermione, lighten up a bit" Ron said with a chuckle.

A few minutes later, the old lady appeared with two plates of food. The first plate had two burritos and the second had some cheese quesadillas. Ron eyed the food hungrily as the old lady set them down on the table. A waiter followed with drinks.

Ron took the burrito and bit into it with utmost pleasure. He couldn't even remember the last time he ate such good food. He smiled at Hermione, who merely rolled her eyes and sipped her drink quietly while observing the eatery.

After eating his second quesadilla, Ron felt his stomach hurt. It was really painful. He doubted that it was because of eating too much or too fast, because it was way too painful. It was an aching pain and a piercing pain at the same time, a pain that quickly spread throughout his entire body. He clutched his stomach, and Hermione noticed.

"Ron, are you alright?"

"No I'm not, Hermione. I feel really, really bad", Ron admitted.

Hermione bit her lip and gave Ron a glass of water. He drank it quickly and the pain just became worse.

"Ron!"

"Hermione, I need some medicine"

Hermione reached for the backpacks under the table and quickly helped Ron up. They staggered to the exit of the eatery and hid themselves as quickly as they could.

Hermione took her backpack and rummaged through it, finally finding the medicine box. She looked through every pill and syrup, but there was nothing there that could help Ron.

Ron then suddenly blacked out, leaving Hermione to stare at nothing in particular, not knowing what to do.

She checked for a pulse. He was breathing, and he was very much alive. He laid in the grass where they hid, clutching his stomach, without knowing anything that was going on.

Hermione started crying.

She found herself thinking about so many things. If only she had taken him away from the eatery before it was too late. If only she had told him to split up so he would've gone to the other canteen and found the sombrero there. If only she had eaten too, so that she wouldn't have to endure thinking these thoughts. At some point, during that time, a thought crossed her mind.

_Maybe I love him._

A teardrop fell on the grass, then one on Hermione's left hand and a teardrop fell solemnly onto Ron's cheek, making it look as if he was crying too.

Then his hand moved slowly and Hermione looked at him hopefully, touching his cheek. Another teardrop fell onto his cheek, falling down to his neck.

Ron opened his eyes. He felt so weak.

"Hermione?" Ron said slowly.

"Ron!" Hermione said in a loud whisper, crying tears of joy, "Ron! I thought you were gone"

Ron breathed heavily, looking around, trying to take in his surroundings.

"What happen—" Ron started to say, then he slowly sat up and said, "I think I remember now. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you Hermione, I really am. I feel so stupid now"

"You're not stupid Ron," Hermione said, "Oh never mind what I said…the thing is, you're okay now and I'm glad that you are"

Ron laughed.

"What?" Hermione said, wiping away tears.

"Nothing"

"What is it?"

"It's just that—I never thought you'd cry over me"

"Of course I would…of course" Hermione spoke with a cracking voice and a slight hint of annoyance.

"Thank you, Hermione", Ron said sincerely, then he stood up and wiped away some dirt that clung onto his clothing. Hermione took out the Just-Enough juice and gave it to Ron, who took it gratefully and sipped like crazy.

Then, not being aware that he was doing it, Ron stared at Hermione for quite sometime and started to think happy thoughts, imagining what it might be like to…kiss her.

"Let's go" Hermione said suddenly, snapping Ron out of his trance.

Hermione had that effect on people. She'd make people love her because of her unguarded moments and then suddenly make people hate her with her serious moments. Ron didn't hate her though, he was just…back to the reality that Hermione would never like him the way that he was starting to like her.

Ron picked up the packs and started walking. Hermione smiled that Ron had the courtesy to carry them all but frowned that maybe he was still too weak to do so. "Nah…", she thought as she stared at Ron. He was walking briskly and his hair sometimes blew along with the wind. Hermione was about to say that Ron needed a haircut but she decided that Ron looked better that way.

Hermione and Ron walked towards the second cantina which took a little longer to find. They were rewarded, though when they reached it and they were given the sombrero the instant they walked in. Inside the sombrero was a note saying "Shiny".

"Shiny? How extremely vague is that?" Ron complained and Hermione started looking around for something shiny.

"How do we know what this shiny thing looks like?" Hermione asked herself out loud.

"How am I supposed to know, Hermione…you're the smart one"

"Oh shut up Ron Weasley"

Ron chuckled and stared at Hermione for another while.

"What?" Hermione asked, "Why do you keep on staring at me? Do I have something on my face?"

"Nothing" Ron said, reminding himself that staring was quite rude, even if you were staring at the most beautiful thing in the world.

_Most beautiful thing? Where did that come from?_

Then Ron caught sight of a huge bell in the town's plaza. It was the shiniest thing that he ahd seen so far, and without a word, he pulled Hermione towards the bell.

_Make a wish, ring the bell. One per person, please_

"I wish I could find the third sombrero", Hermione whispered to the wind, half-joking and she rang the bell. It tolled loudly and out of thin air, the sombrero appeared.

Hermione took it and examined it.

Meanwhile, Ron was making a wish of his own. "I wish…" he thought as hard as he could, "…that I could give Hermione the one thing she wants…like, something material…and beautiful…that would match her beautiful eyes…and would look good with everything"

He smiled at himself and glanced at Hermione and rang the bell, making it toll loudly.

Hermione looked at him, "What did you wish for?" she asked.

"Nothing"

Hermione didn't quite believe him but she was satisfied anyway. She didn't really like to pry.

Looking inside the sombrero, there was a pair of plane tickets going to Australia.

"This room will take FOREVER to pass thru" Ron complained as loud as he could.

000

A/N: THANK YOU FOR YOUR AWESOME REVIEWS! YOU ARE LOVED. SORRY THIS CHAPPY TOOK SO LONG. I HAD FINALS AND ALL.

_Liz- thank you_

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_m.k slade- yes the door is going out_

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_No one- hope this chapt was good for you_

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_**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! SEE YOU ALL IN MY NEXT CHAPTER!**_


	11. Buena Burger

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 11: Buena Burger_

Hermione wouldn't accept going on a plane wearing only half-decent clothes. Ron's shirt was stained, damp and dirty, and Hermione's was pretty much the same. Hermione hailed a taxi and told him to stop at a fast food place near the airport, which was about 3 hours away from where they started off.

The fast food place was called "Buena Burger", and an African American teenager was behind the counter. Hermione and Ron approached him and he looked straight up to them and said, "Welcome to Buena Burger, home of the Buena Burger, may I take your order?"

"Yes please", Ron said, glancing at Hermione, who pretended to be interested in the blue tiles that lined the floor of the fast food store.

"Oh its okay, Ron. Go on, have a bit to eat," Hermione said, biting her lip.

"I'll have a burger, and strawberry shake please", Ron said, and he turned to Hermione.

"I'll have the same, except I'll have a vanilla shake instead of a strawberry one"

When they finally got their orders, they sat quietly in a booth. Ron eyed the burger and took a sip of his shake. The sweetness of the shake hit his tongue and he smiled, refreshed. He set down the shake and then he started to unwrap the burger.

Hermione looked at Ron as he unwrapped the burger, and then she took her own burger and unwrapped it too. She took a big bite, and she felt relieved that it tasted like a normal, not-too-shabby burger, although she couldn't be quite sure.

Ron finished his burger quickly and then he stood up to order some fries. Hermione ate the last of her burger in silence, and when Ron returned, Hermione started sipping her shake.

"You want some?" Ron offered the fries, taking a bottle of ketchup as well.

"Sure", Hermione said reaching for some fries.

A few minutes later, they were enjoying the fries. It became quite silent as Hermione took about five fries and bent over to dip it in the ketchup. As she bent over, Ron said, "Just so you know, I'd cry for you too"

Hermione was so surprised that she dropped the fries into the small bowl of ketchup, making some splatter onto Ron's shirt.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Ron…" Hermione grabbed a table napkin and started wiping Ron's shirt, "I'm really, really sorry…I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay", Ron stuttered. He was surprised at what Hermione was doing, "Hermione…"

"What?" Hermione stopped trying to clean Ron's shirt and looked at Ron, her hair blocking Ron's view of her honey colored eyes.

"Sit down"

It wasn't like Hermione to be so confused, but she was. She wouldn't have taken that order from Ron if she wasn't so startled and embarrassed. So she sat down.

Ron then reached over and cleared away the hair from her eyes.

"What did you do that for?" Hermione said, eyeing Ron curiously.

"I couldn't see your pretty eyes", Ron said, without thinking.

Hermione grabbed the backpack and stood up.

"I have to go change", she said quickly, and she headed for the bathroom. Ron stood up after she entered the bathroom. He grabbed his own backpack and headed for the men's room.

While Hermione was in the comfort room, she was thinking about what Ron said. The vision of Ron clearing away her hair to tuck behind her ear repeated itself in her head. She dressed up quickly into khaki pants and a blue blouse. She combed her hair furiously and made sure that it didn't fall on her face.

She then stared into the mirror, into her eyes. Her face seemed so plain, compared to other girls. Especially her eyes; honey colored eyes were so common, and it made her think about why Ron would care so much about seeing her eyes.

She remembered the things that she was thinking about when Ron was unconscious. An annoying voice at the back of her head screamed, "How could you be so stupid as to not realize that you're falling for him all this time?"

She silently screamed back, "Because I'm not falling for him! And even if I were, Ron wouldn't see me as more than some friend with honey colored eyes"

The voice argued back convincingly, "How would you know for sure, miss smarty-pants?"

In the men's room, Ron said aloud, "I couldn't see your honey colored eyes", then he repeated the line in his head for some time as he was changing into black denim pants and a red t-shirt.

"Ron, you really are stupid", he said to himself in the mirror, "now Hermione might think you secretly like her"

Then came the small voice from nowhere: "But you do like her, you do"

"No I don't" Ron thought, "No I—"

But the small voice cut him off, "Yes you do. You can't get enough of her hair, her eyes, her smile… the way she's so smart, she's so kind and she's so clever. You like every bit of Hermione Granger"

"No I don't.", he said out loud, and he ran his hand through his flaming red hair and left the bathroom and added, "at least I don't think I do"

Ron and Hermione met at the entrance of the store, Ron still munching on his left over fries. Hermione hailed a taxicab and Ron hesitantly threw the fries into the nearest trash bin. Hermione rolled her eyes and got into the cab.

The ride to the airport was long and uncomfortable. They were stuck in a traffic jam when Hermione dozed off, her head resting on Ron's shoulder. Ron gently eased closer to Hermione so she'd be more comfortable. Hermione's breathing became synchronized to Ron's and he smiled, clutching Hermione's hand.

Hermione woke up about twenty minutes later, her head still on Ron's shoulder. She didn't move, but her eyes were open, trying to remember what happened. She had fallen asleep on Ron's shoulder. She looked down at her hand. Ron's hand was resting on it. Had she snored? Had she moved around a lot? She had this need to hug something when she slept; had she subconsciously hugged Ron during that twenty or thirty minutes that she had been sleeping.

Hermione let out a yawn, startling Ron a bit. Ron looked down at her and then out to the window.

"Hey Ron," she said sleepily, "I'm sorry. I fell asleep"

"Nah, it's okay," Ron said, "You were quite heavy though"

"Oh shut up"

Ron laughed and then he started to say, "You looked very—"

He had meant to say "beautiful" but then he said, "peaceful"

Hermione moved away from Ron a bit and looked at him. His eyes seemed to be focused on the driver's route.

Ron wasn't focused on the driver's route at all; in fact, he had been contemplating on his feelings for Hermione.

"Maybe I do like her," Ron thought, "I mean, I can hardly look at her without blushing and becoming conscious of what I say and—"

Ron's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the taxi came to a halt.

Hermione paid the cabdriver and then she exited the cab watching Ron remove the backpacks from the trunk of the car. He shot a smile to Hermione, who went over to take her backpack.

"No, it's okay," Ron said, "I'll carry them"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I am"

Hermione blushed

In putting on the backpack, Ron turned to the cabdriver and smiled. The cabdriver whispered, "Do you like her?"

Ron shrugged, but this question rang inside his head till they got to immigration.

Hermione suddenly realized that they had no passports. They had tickets and no passports. Suddenly, the backpack Ron was carrying seemed to heavier. When Ron knelt down to see what it was, he saw an entire clear folder full of documents and papers, plus their passports.

Hermione took them in relief and gave them to the immigration officer. Their hands brushed against each other and Ron suddenly became interested in his shoes and Hermione was taking handfuls of free candy at the immigration counter.

When they boarded the plane, Hermione was furious at herself for blushing at the immigration counter. She took out a candy and unwrapped it, chewing at it.

"Can I have one?"

"Huh?"

"A sweet"

"Oh", Hermione said, and she gave him a sweet (candy).

She blushed again. Ron's ears actually turned red as he sat down at their assigned seat. Hermione focused on not blushing as she helped Ron buckle his seatbelt and figure out the controls on the TV set in front of his chair.

"Hey Hermione, us wizards should have this kind of entertainment on our brooms!" he whispered, after watching a F.R.I.E.N.D.S. rerun. Hermione suppressed a giggle and then tried to keep Ron quiet, "Shh Ron! There are Muggles here"

"Oh, I'm sorry"

Ron nearly fainted when the food cart came and the stewardess told him that there was no need to pay for his food. He took a sip of his soda and then announced that he had to go to the bathroom.

Hermione pointed to the nearest lavatory and he was off.

While he was there, Hermione thought of why she kept on blushing. "If I'm lucky," she thought, "Maybe it's just a disorder; maybe I don't have feelings for Ron after all"

A few seconds passed and then she said to herself, "Okay, maybe I like Ron, maybe I don't. But I'm sure that he doesn't feel the same anyway…"

Ron arrived back at his seat with a grin. "Muggles are crazy. Why would they put paper cups in the toilet?"

Hermione muttered something that sounded like, "No they're not", but Ron didn't hear.

About an hour later, Ron fell asleep. It was Hermione's turn to stare at him. Half an hour later, a teenaged girl passed and said to Hermione, "You are so lucky. He is so hot!" she pointed at Ron and then she went on to the lavatory. When the girl passed again, Hermione said to her, "You really think he's cute?"

The girl gave double thumbs up.

The plane landed hours later and Ron was awake, eating breakfast.

"I should ride these planey-things more often", he said.

"Planes"

"Right", then he took a big bite of his toast.

Hermione and Ron were greeted by Katarina. She was wearing Khaki shorts and s Khaki shirt and she smiled her wonderful, toothy smile. The rubber bands of her braces now matched her clothing. She looked beautiful.

Hermione groaned.

Ron reciprocated Katarina's smile and then waited for her to speak.

"Follow me," Katarina said. They followed her to a patch of land not far from the airport. Nobody was within 50 feet of the place.

"You are to swim in the Great Barrier Reef and collect the boomerangs", Katarina said, her accent seemed to sound prettier and more enticing than the last time they met.

They appeared suddenly about 20 feet of the grandeur of the Great Barrier Reef and they were wearing diving suits and oxygen tanks. Ron looked around. Katarina was gone.

Hermione looked down on the sand. Outlined on the ocean floor was the number five. She swam around to start to look for the boomerangs.

Ron was stunned of the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. "I can't think of anything prettier than this", he said to himself. His words lingered for a bit before he finally said aloud (although no one heard), "except Hermione"

Hermione found the first boomerang near a group of Angel Fish. She smiled at how pretty they were and then she clutched the boomerang tightly.

Ron found two boomerangs in close succession a little far away from a group of multicolored fish. He held them tightly and swam over to give them to Hermione, who had found the fourth one under some seaweed.

It took a while to find the last one. While searching for it, Ron found a beautiful shell near some coral. He held it tightly but with a gentle touch, and then he saw Hermione waving for him to see that she had found the last boomerang.

At least that was what he thought.

Hermione was pointing frantically behind him, and then he turned around to see a huge shark swimming toward him. All the fish had disappeared inside their homes and he panicked swimming as fast as he could towards Hermione.

He swam quickly towards Hermione but they had nowhere to go. The shark was only a few inches away from them when there was a cracking noise and then they found themselves on the shore.

Katarina giggled. "Gave you a scare didn't I?"

Ron laughed along, but he was really scared.

Hermione handed over all the boomerangs and looked over at Ron.

The rest of the afternoon, they rested at the beach and ate ice cream. They watched the sun go down.

"It's so pretty…" Hermione said, as the last rays of the sun disappeared.

Katarina appeared and led them to a secluded spot to have some dinner. They had really good seafood and they chattered about anything and everything.

Ron suddenly remembered the seashell he had gotten. He took it out of his pocket and then handed it to Hermione.

"Hey, I want you t-to have this", he said and then looked down.

Hermione smiled and examined it. "It's really, really beautiful, Ron", she said, blood rushing to her cheeks, "Thanks"

Then she leaned over and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

They suddenly realized that Katarina had gone, but that didn't really matter, because in her place at the dinner table was a pink envelope containing tickets to Paris.

_A/N: Thank you all for reading the tenth chapter and for waiting patiently for the eleventh one. I'm sorry this one took so long, but I am sort of busy. The next one will be up in two weeks, depending on how many reviews I get. wink wink_

_Thanks to:_

_Blue Rose of the Forgotten, Celi, sapphirenight, Syd, deepbluequill, xoGossipGirlox,_

_Little Black poko-chan **yes it was part of a room **_

_Ratica, jesus? No maybe moses, Lavender Brown 17, _

_hpchick **glad you think so **_

_Grint'sBestGal **magic **_

_coco-pop **thanks! this room is very similar to amazing race, isn't it?** _

_Sorry this chappy was so short._

_**I THRIVE ON REVIEWS.**_


	12. Paris

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 12: Paris_

Harry Potter was getting worried, and that's putting it lightly. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. He wouldn't talk to anyone about what happened. A semester has passed since his friends, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, have been declared missing.

"The way I see it, it's either they've left on their own, been kidnapped or are trapped in a Labyrinth", Tonks had said to him three days after they had gone.

Harry had spent most of the time in the Library, looking up information on Labyrinths while the Ministry searched everywhere for them. The Dark Lord hadn't made any attacks so far, but they were expecting attacks soon, therefore delaying the search.

From what he read, wizards and witches that got trapped in a Labyrinth would commonly turn up again in a few months, but Harry couldn't wait for that.

"They could be having the greatest adventure," Harry thought, trying to be positive as he wrote down the last few lines of the charms homework. What 16 year old boy wouldn't fear for his friends?

"Dudley, of course", Harry answered in his head, "and that ferret Draco Malfoy—oh wait…Draco would be nothing without Crabbe and Goyle…"

Those thoughts made him forget about his friends for a while, but then he just sulked after remembering something else he had read.

_Of course, in some rare cases, witches and wizards would never turn up at all. Like in the case of Miss Katarina Sanchez…_

Then he remembered Sirius.

This was something else he hadn't gotten over. He had dreams about Sirius sometimes, leaving him sweaty and cold when he suddenly shot up from his bed in the night.

After all, Sirius wouldn't have died if he hadn't gone after Harry…

Harry spent the night staring out the window. Maybe Hedwig would come tapping on it with some letter from Sirius saying that he had been alive all this time and had been spending his summer hiding out in Japan…and that the Pandas were his good friends and he had been living on sushi and sugarcane juice.

These would sometimes make Harry laugh, these small fantasies, but they were temporary and they did no good.

**000**

Harry walked the corridors and receive looks. Some of them were sympathetic and some were just glares and looks of humor, most of these from the Slytherins. Colin Creevy would come up to him sometimes and ask if he wanted to play Wizard's chess.

"No thank you, Colin," he would say, because he used to play Wizard's chess with Ron, and besides, he wasn't all that good in Wizard's chess anyway.

**000**

Today, he spent his lunch at the Library. Everyone else was in Hogsmeade, and he saw no point in being there without his friends. Draco Malfoy would just laugh at how Harry was all alone. Dean and Seamus had talked to him in the morning, asking for his company.

"_Harry, aren't you going to Hogsmeade?"_

"_No"_

"_Why not? You can go to the pub with us, and we could go to Zonko's"_

"_Well I'm not really up for it. Actually, I have some homework to finish"_

Homework. He had done it all, trying not to think about Ron and Hermione; even the 3 foot essay that was due in two weeks had been finished.

Didn't everyone realize that he didn't want to do things with anybody else, because they were the things he used to do with his best friends?

"Harry?" a voice said.

Harry looked up from his seat and saw Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor? What happened?"

"We have some news about your friends"

**000**

Harry was lead into Dumbledore's office and he sat down across the old professor, breathing nervously. What had happened to his friends?

"We have confirmed, with much difficulty, that Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger are trapped in a Labyrinth—"

Harry felt relief and angst. He slumped back in his chair.

"Harry, I know what you're thinking and it is not possible to go after them. They must figure it out on their own. Now, when they do turn up, they will have to take extra classes, maybe even till the summer to make up for their studies. I understand that their absence is very difficult for you, but let me assure you that they are intelligent enough to get through the obstacles they face. We weren't able to obtain enough information to confirm the stage of the Labyrinth where they are now, but we are quite certain that they are nearly out, since they have been missing for quite some time. Please do not worry about them, Mr. Potter, your grades are lower than ever, and I know that you are capable of bringing them up"

Harry exhaled. "Thank you, professor", he said uncertainly, and then he stood up to leave, Dumbledore watching him as he closed the door behind him.

**000**

When they reached Paris, it was empty. No one was one the streets that were usually busy, not even inside the boutiques or shops, not even cars passed by. A flyer advertising homemade bread flew onto the silent street and was swept away again by a light breeze. Hermione Granger had gotten off a busy airplane, from a long flight, filled with people. They, being in the first row, had stepped out first. When they descended the aircraft, they found themselves suddenly standing on a street called 'rue de Rivoli'.

Hermione was vaguely familiar with this street. She had been here before, but she didn't remember why. She was a little happy at the thought of not passing through immigration.

"Where is everyone?" Ron wondered aloud. It seemed weird that there was nobody around because when they had been to Australia and Mexico, they had seen many residents. Some of them had been friendly, some were not, but whether or not their attitude was pleasant, it was unusual to be the only people on the particular part of the earth.

"I don't know, Ron. I don't even know what we're supposed to be doing", said Hermione, extremely irritated. She hated not being knowledgeable. She was supposed to be the on with all the answers. Even though she knew that wasn't true, she sometimes wished it were. It would be so much easier, even if it were some stupid stereotype her schoolmates labeled her.

She smoothened her hair backwards as if she was tying it in a ponytail then she let it go. It didn't help much. It was a little cold when they got there, but her body felt like it was so warm, because she was sweating from the confusion

"Right", Ron said, and he looked away. Hermione was so confused…and she was so beautiful. "What am I saying?" Ron thought, "Blimey, I'm getting confused too. I'm not supposed to like Hermione…"

"Ron," Hermione whispered, "look…"

Ron looked in the direction where Hermione looked. Someone was approaching them. It was a little boy. He couldn't be any older than seven, he held a flag. It was the French flag, blue white and red, and it had some scrawny handwriting on it, although Hermione couldn't make it out yet.

He was wearing a red shirt that had white stripes and long navy blue shorts. He had white tights, a black bandana around his neck and a black beret. He had light freckles. His cheeks were red, probably because he was tired. However, this little boy did not look tired at all. He was smiling, and even though he had extremely pale skin—except for his cheeks—he looked friendly and harmless.

The boy marched to them in a childlike manner. Hermione could make out some words on the flag, written in black ink, from a quill most possibly. _Ninety, Street, Lisa._

"Pour vous", the boy said. Hermione knew that 'pour' meant 'for' but she didn't really know what 'vous' meant, but she guessed that it meant 'you'.

The boy smiled at Hermione and handed Ron the flag.

"Merci beaucoup", said Hermione to the small boy, using 97 percent of her knowledge of the French language, and she smiled sweetly. It was a little forced, but to Ron, it didn't look as though it was. He admired her for a second and stopped himself before he could say something stupid, although he really didn't want to.

The boy disappeared when Hermione read the flag and Ron suddenly blinked. He seemed to drift away with the wind, his being floating away.

"It's in English, thank goodness", Hermione breathed as she read it.

_At ninety-nine on the street you're on_

_Save Mona Lisa before it's gone_

_A horrible plot is being made_

_Quickly, before it's too late_

_At 2 o'clock it will begin_

_Stop this theft from happening_

"The Louvre!" Hermione whispered hoarsely.

"The what?" Ron asked, completely oblivious to Hermione horrified expression.

Hermione repeated what she said and explained to Ron that the Louvre is one of the earliest European museums and that it housed a painting called the Mona Lisa, created by one of the best artists in the history of time.

Ron stopped her, telling her that she was beginning to sound like Professor Binns. Hermione got a little irked, but reminded herself that she did sound a little like their only ghost professor. So she let that little remark slip as Ron turned his attention to the flag.

"Okay, Hermione, what time is it?" Ron said, reading the fifth line of the poem.

Hermione checked her watch and made the adjustments. "It's about one thirty," she said, "have you anything planned?" she asked, but she knew the answer.

"Of course not", Ron said, "have you?"

"No idea at all. Ron, if we can't do this, we might not be able to get back to Hogwarts. Think of all the lessons I've missed! All the quizzes…"

"Hermione, please, please clam down…" Ron started, and he suddenly got better at it, following both his heart and instinct, "Please, if you cry now, then the more we don't get out. Let's just focus on this bloody situation and concentrate"

"Ron, don't you see," Hermione said, losing her collect manner, tears streaming down her face, "There is no way out. We don't have anything to stop anyone from taking that painting. We have no one to report this to, no one. We're the only ones in this stupid, stupid place and there's no way out"

Ron stared at the flag, wishing it would all just go away. Wanting it to go away and disappear, as if it's being there meant that their troubles would disappear as well and just as he had started to think that even if it weren't there, their troubles would still be, it disappeared. Then a wide grin spread across his freckled face.

"Hermione, okay then, if you had any resource at all to stop this theft, what would it be?"

"My—wand, of course. But how does that help? We don't have our wands. We can't even use magic"

"Yes we can…", Ron said, his grin broader than ever. He finally figured out something on his own, without Hermione. Even though it was just an accident that he did, he felt quite proud of his clumsy, awkward self.

"Look," Ron said, "the flag was here just a second ago and I made it disappear!"

"What?" now Hermione's confusion was greater than ever. She wiped her tear-stained face and said, "How?"

"I wanted it to go away…I wished it would go away, I wished it would disappear then it did!"

"Are you sure? Ron, you could be jumping to conclusions!"

"Give it a try, concentrate with all your might that the flag would come back…"

Hermione concentrated. She looked at the spot where the flag used to be and wished for it to come back. When nothing happened, she lost hope again. She sighed and looked at Ron.

"Try again, Hermione", Ron coaxed.

"I feel really stupid doing this, Ron, let's just not. We only have fifteen minutes left—"

"—Hermione, please…just listen to me, okay?"

Hermione was getting fed up. She didn't want to hear what Ron was saying. She didn't want to be in that stupid Labyrinth, she didn't want to be lost and stuck here, especially with Ron, especially with his red hair, and freckles and stupid grin…

"Ron, it's useless, okay? The flag just probably disappeared on its own or something like that"

"Hermione, I know I made it disappear. If you would just listen to me!"

"Why should I? Ron, I tried it already, okay? And it didn't work. What more proof do you want that this theory of yours doesn't work at all?"

"Hermione, I always listen to what you have to say, even if it bores the pants off of me. I've always trusted your ideas, why can't you trust mine?"

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but she realized that Ron was completely right. It was turning into an extremely one-sided friendship, and neither of them wanted that, especially not Hermione.

Ron felt that there wasn't any hope at all to change Hermione. Sure she was smart, but she was also stubborn. But he knew that he made the flag disappear and he was intent on making Hermione see that.

"J-just try it, Hermione, please? If not for your sake, then for mine. Just trust me, okay?"

Hermione inhaled. Then exhaled then decided to give in and give it another try.

She gritted her teeth and wished with all her might that the flag would appear again, and with the little hope she had, she hoped that this would work.

And it did.

The French flag appeared out of thin air and plopped onto the ground. Hermione was certain that it was the same flag. She grinned at Ron's victorious expression, picked up the flag and took his hand, and pulled him to the Louvre, which was really near.

They walked briskly while Hermione explained her plan. Then, they entered the museum passing through the seventy-one foot pyramid, the architectural wonder on the entrance of the great museum. They ran quickly through the galleries, and like the streets and shops in the outside, no one was there. It was empty, but they both knew that in ten minutes time, there was going to be someone else in the building, besides themselves.

_Département des Peintures, _it said, and they entered it, more nervous than ever. Hermione motioned for Ron to hide behind a pillar, the best hiding place they could find, the nearest one to the famous painting. Hermione Granger, if she were on a tour, would have stopped to admire every work of art that they passed by, but unfortunately, she had no time to. Ron, on the other hand, didn't really care about the works that a bunch of old dead guys made.

Hermione had her back against the pillar, breathing heavily, a nervous wreck, just like before taking an exam she knew that she would ace. She knew that she could do it, she knew that she'd accomplish it like she did any task. But what if she was wrong?

A few minutes before two, they heard something. It made them look behind them, searching for the source. The sound became clearer and constant, footsteps. Then Hermione edged her way around the pillar to the painting and wished with all her might that the thief would be thrown back, stupefied or stunned.

"Ron, help…" Hermione breathed, "Stupefy him…"

"Hermione, jinx him…I'll hex…", said Ron.

"Ron, whoever he is," Hermione whispered, "it's likely he's more powerful than me or you. I think we have to concentrate on the same thing"

"Well, 'stupefy' won't last long, will it?"

"Do you have any more bright ideas, then?"

The footsteps were getting closer, Hermione snuck a peek to see and she saw dark, black boots, stamping heavily on the floor. The boots belonged to someone wearing a black mask and robe, and she was filled with fear. She didn't know who was behind that masked, but he—or she—was a threat, and that was all that mattered.

"Full body bind?" Ron suggested, although it wasn't his favorite spell.

"Brilliant, Ron!"

She concentrated on what she wanted it to result to, the full body bind, and repeated _Petrificus Totalus _inside her head, and said it under her breath as well. She wanted this thief's body to become fully rigid for the longest time, for the time they needed to escape from Paris.

_Petrificus Totalus, Petrificus Totalus…_

Ron just wanted to end it, and he focused on those boots, on that mask, on the robes, on everything about the mysterious thief. Sure, the full body bind wasn't much but he had hoped that the spell—the first one to pop inside his head—would prove effective. He sort of wanted to impress Hermione as well…

He took his thoughts from Hermione to Hermione's hair, from her lips to her honey eyes, from her whole being to the thief and he recited the spell under his breath.

_Petrificus Totalus, Petrificus Totalus…_

Then they heard a thump, a huge sound that echoed through the building. They had done it. Ron was about to see who the thief was, but then he found himself in a tight hug from no one but Hermione Granger.

**000**

_Thanks to: Morning Rose, silktophat, scubagirl, One Wing Black Winged Angel, I AM EOWYN, KyoLuvsTohru, Funky-Princess, Shadow Faerie of Twilight, Hermionegarner, Gi Xian, chazberry, Grint'sBestGal, goblin monkey, jesus no moses, dancerrdw, deep blue quill, hpchick13, coco-pop, golden flower, blue rose of the forgotten, celi_

_Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I'm sorry it took so long. I got writers block. Also, sorry if my description of Paris wasn't very satisfying. I'd never been there so it was difficult. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the new chapter up in a few weeks._

_Good for those who got the GOOD BURGER reference. Here's a virtual cookie._

_Also, please review because I don't get motivated if I don't have any reviews. Click that review button! REVIEW! Thanks!_

_The romance is heating up. If you want to read on, you'll review._

_See you in my next chapter!_


	13. Complications

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

**Author's Note**: You probably have already lost interest in this fic but I thought I'd revive it anyway…and P.S., this chapter will be a little more fluffy than usual. Sorry.

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 13: Complications_

"Hermione, gerroff me!" he exclaimed, his cheeks turning as red as his hair. He had to admit though, the warmth felt pretty good—and she's hugged him before, mind you…but there was this strange feeling that someone was watching him, enjoying the scene, which was really…strange…very strange, indeed.

However, Hermione didn't have the time to take her arms off Ron. If any, they wound tighter around him, enveloping him, making him feel comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time, as they were swept into a swirling vortex, giving them both a tingling sensation similar to what one felt when holding an active Portkey.

Once they landed safely on the ground, Hermione felt a little embarrassed and quickly edged away from Ron before standing up. Ron stood up, confused and sweaty. Where were they? He was standing on a huge, wide pile of sand—otherwise known as a desert. Hermione looked around and took off her sweater hastily…picked up the backpacks that suddenly appeared in front of them, waiting to be opened.

They both sat down on a flat rock opposite cacti and other desert plants. Hermione took out the Never-Ending Chicken and saw that inside were some toaster pastries and so she assumed that it must be morning…she pained herself to think about the temperature of that place during noontime. They ate in silence, sometimes glancing at the other. Ron took some effort with eating with composure in front of Hermione, and Hermione smiled at his weak effort, appreciating the gesture nonetheless. "You know, Ron…we're both a little hungry…and I really don't mind if you do away with manners … for now"

Ron grinned awkwardly, and moved his hand swiftly to put down his utensils, hitting the sharp edge of the rock they were sitting on. He didn't notice it was bleeding badly 'til the drops of blood actually fell onto his food. "Ron!" Hermione said, surprised and worried at the same time, quickly taking his hand without thinking, her soft skin trying to wipe out the blood. There was nothing else to use, after all. She tried to search the pack for a bandage but there was nothing close. She ripped her shirt a bit, making her look really rugged and she eyed the wound nervously as she tried to wrap the cloth around it.

Ron was feeling really stupid, at the moment. Why'd he have to do that? On the other hand, it felt really good to get all this attention from Hermione. But of course, he was the only one there…who else would Hermione give attention to. "Stupid Ron," he thought.

The blood was seething through the cloth a bit and Hermione pressed on it a bit, trying to apply some pressure and stop it from bleeding too much. She quickly examined it to see if she did anything wrong with wrapping…but she didn't really know much about that so it was pretty useless…she pretended to know everything sometimes—but she knew that with Ron, she didn't have to. She knew him well enough to know that she could act stupid around him anytime. She could be really natural with Ron –and that meant, that naturally, she was unusually stubborn and still wouldn't believe herself sometimes.

Ron quickly got over the fact that Hermione was concerned about him—not really. But he tried not to show it too much. Could it be that this was actually happening—him falling for his best friend? He didn't want that to happen—not in the least. He didn't want things to change. He was having a hard enough time as it is, with everyone thinking that he did like her in that way…and if now, it turns out that he did like her in that way, then it would definitely be a bloody difficult thing to cope with.

He never understood girls much anyway…and was it really the right time to like someone? Especially if it was someone you were stuck with them for the time being until who-knows-when. He might end up doing some utterly stupid stuff, fawning and swooning over her. He didn't need that. Nope, not Ron Weasley.

"Ron?"

"Yes?"

"You could…erm—stop staring at me now"

Bloody hell.

**000**

Yes, Ron Weasley was staring at Hermione. She couldn't believe it either. The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. People fall in love everyday—it's not uncommon to have feelings for someone…is it? Love is a funny thing, she heard…it's one of the most common feelings in the world, yet to an individual, it feels like the most uncommon thing in the universe. Of course, she knows nothing much about that. As much as she hates to admit it, books aren't the answers to everything.

The question now, was…while Ron was staring at her absentmindedly…was she staring back at him with unconscious consciousness at the same time? How complicated. But it did leave butterflies in her stomach for a split-second.

They sat in silence for a long time, eating and drinking, neither of them brave enough to say anything…but they did want to say everything that was going on in their head right now. Hermione felt stupid and Ron felt confused. The longer they were stuck in that maze, the more complicated it was all getting. But they were with each other…and strange enough, neither of them was complaining.

**000**

There was a buzzing noise, suddenly, getting louder and louder. They both stood up on the rock to see what was going on. They looked around to see a swarm of orange insects coming closer and closer every instant. They had nowhere to go. Suddenly, Hermione lost her balance and Ron quickly stepped down from the rock to catch her fall, quickly propping her up, as she looked afraid, with the insects scattered above their heads. Peculiarly enough, the insects didn't go for them, but they danced around atop their heads and then grouped together again.

They buzzed towards Hermione and she hid her face in Ron's shoulders. Ron, not being the perfect picture of a brave macho guy, pulled them both down to a crouching position, clutching her tightly, afraid that something bad might happen to her.

The buzzing died down and then boomed back, louder than ever. Ron stood up and whirled around to see the flying bugs in an odd formation, three simple words: LOOK BEHIND YOU.

Ron nervously peeked over his shoulder and saw an unbelievable sight that had certainly not been there a few minutes ago while they were eating. He turned to face it fully and when he turned to look back at the insects, they were gone. "Hermione…", he said, "It's safe now"

**000**

Hermione was just as surprised as he was, moving towards what they were facing, slowly and cautiously. Was it for real? Or was it just a mirage, calling out to them to make complete fools of themselves? It looked real, at any rate. And why would they hallucinate about a huge junkyard in a desert anyway?

There it was, a revolting smell emitting from it…although it was faint, it was still hideously disgusting. Hermione wrinkled up her nose, smiling idiotically and Ron was coming towards it, pretending not to mind—oh but he did, he most certainly minded.

"Come in!" a middle-aged Egyptian man (Well, at least, they thought he was Egyptian) said suddenly, leaping out of the junkyard, surprising the two. They moved towards him and again, to their surprise, the horrible smell was replaced with the sugary smell of vanilla-scented incense.

"Hello", Ron said uneasily, "what are we supposed to be doing next?"

"Pardon me? Maybe you should first introduce yourselves before I think of what to do with you, man." the man asked. He had a very weird accent—a mix of Jamaican, British and Indian. Go figure.

"Sorry", Hermione said quickly, "He's not very right in the head and sometimes he forgets his manners…I'm err, Hermione and he's Ronald"

Ron glared at her, but didn't really mean it, so he was pretty glad that she didn't see. He hated to think about what would happen if she did see him. He wasn't prepared for that, he was thinking, looking around.

"Hermy and Ron-Ron! Of course…I was expecting you", he said, overexcited, to a wincing Ron as Hermione was trying to restrain her laughter.

"Yes, Ron-Ron and I were wondering what we were supposed to do"

"Don't shoot the messenger, love. Here you go". The man handed her a roll of green parchment. She unrolled it and read it quickly. "Seems easy enough", she said, shrugging.

The man bit his lip and told her, "The scent of vanilla will disappear in three minutes and 17—16… no wait…15 seconds"

Hermione nearly choked. "You must be kidding!" Ron bellowed.

"I'm not."

"Please don't make us go…" Hermione pleaded, handing the parchment to Ron for him to read. It wasn't her thing to plead but what they were about to do was absolutely horrid, not to mention, disgusting beyond reason.

Ron read the parchment quickly and gave the man a look. "You really must be kidding. You can't make us do this!"

"I told you…it wasn't my choice to have to do this. The council of the maze just sent this to me, okay? Good luck!" he added, edging towards the exit of the junkyard and disappearing as he ran towards what looked like an endless mass of sand.

"What the hell? Council of the Maze…?" Ron looked dumbfounded.

"I haven't read anything about a council…I thought the maze ran on it's own magic…must be something new to control it a bit…I guess…" then she turned to Ron, "I really don't want to do this"

Ron nodded miserably in agreement.

**000**

The smell overpowered the rest of their senses. They were getting it full blast now and Hermione resisted the urge to puke. It was so difficult to cope with this entire thing. The parchment told them to make their way through the mounds of garbage and heaps of junk and navigate their way to the pile of cars at the far end of it, and look inside the compartments for the golden trinkets. Yes, 'golden trinkets'—that's what it said. How specific.

Ron was kind of interested in what the trinket actually look like, so he moved with a little more willpower, trying to steer towards wherever without dying.

**000**

Was it just her or were they going around in circles?

She just saw that old boot three minutes ago…or maybe that was the other boot...but she was certain that they weren't making any turns. So far, their movements have been careful and sly…trying to find the cars.

They made their first turn at a ghastly pile of fish bones. Ron's face scrunched up at the sheer sight and smell of it. It was utterly nasty.

In Hermione's honest opinion, the worst part was the fact that there were little bugs crawling all over the place. She was rather glad that they haven't seen any spiders, or Ron would've gone mad. She didn't really need that right now.

It's as if someone was reading her mind—someone horribly vicious, because at that moment, a huge spider crawled casually across their path, and Ron screamed like a madman, towards Hermione, holding her awkwardly. For Hermione, was this supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? Hermione told him to calm down and they quietly went on their way once more.

Then they made their second turn—to the left this time, moving as quickly as possible, the stench embracing them rapidly. The turns appeared more frequently, just as the smell became more and more putrid.

Then there was a fork in the road, two paths separated by a tall mound of garbage. Why did this have to happen now?

"Which way do we go?" Hermione breathed. Ron shrugged, looking even more perplexed.

Hermione considered this for a while. "We turned right…then left…then left…then right again…do you remember after that?"

"'Course I do…that's when we passed the gross heap of fast-food leftovers…we turned left there…and then left…then we got here…I think…not entirely sure…"

"Then our best bet is to go right, according to our pattern of movement"

"But what if we're wrong?"

"I expect we'll know soon enough…" Hermione said, as they made their way to the right.

**000**

Ron stopped in his tracks and Hermione just realized why. This huge brown dog snarled at them, obviously angry. He was on what looked like a very weak leash and he watched them eagerly, hoping to take a bite out of them, or maybe just have some fun. Hermione back away into Ron. Ron, taken by surprise, grabbed her hand and gripped it tightly.

Hermione looked at Ron and said, "I see the cars"

"Where?" Ron whispered, looking around.

She freed her left hand from his hold and pointed to the cars piled messily on top of each other. All of them were oddly the same kind and color. Hermione supposed it was meant to make their search more difficult. Ron really just put his focus on the barking dog, which was now trying to break free, with quick and violent movements.

Ron suddenly coughed up the courage to move towards the dog, edging as close as possible to the garbage heaps. It was a difficult task, with mixed emotions like repulsion and terror, plus that little voice in his head telling him to show off to Hermione. He ignored that one, of course…well, maybe he did.

Hermione looked at him closely. He was being particularly brave today. Her eyes darted from Ron to the dog, and then she decided to take that risk. She skulked towards Ron, her eyes on the dog, intently watching for any sudden movement it might make. The dog was doing the same thing as she reached out her hand clumsily to Ron, who took it quickly and guided her over to the spot where he was standing.

The dog growled and fiercely eyed them and then suddenly started barking just when Hermione thought she was safe. Ron took her into his arms unexpectedly and whispered, "Get ready to run" Hermione nodded timidly and tucked her hair behind her ears, making Ron feel this unexpected feeling of…who-knows-what-that-is-but-who-really-cares-'cos-it's-amazing.

Ron took the matters into his own hands, obviously, acting like he actually knew what he was doing. But really, he didn't really know what he was getting himself into.

Hermione felt like she was going to be safe after all. Ron obviously knew what he was doing.

"Ron?" Hermione whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Don't let me go, okay?" Hermione said quietly. She felt really over-sentimental, but what could she do? She was really, really scared. This dog had something about him what was really, really vicious—like, he knew what they were trying to do and was prepared to do whatever it takes to stop them.

"Hermione…" Ron said, staring, "…don't go all mushy on me"

Hermione's face fell. This wasn't the kind of reaction that she wanted. But really, what did she want? Did she want to finally realize that she really did like Ron? Did she want to let Ron know how she felt? Or was she just playing maiden-in-distress so she could see if he was worth thinking about?

But Ron continued, "…or else, I'd have to go all mushy on you as well", he said, and he smiled.

Hermione's system suddenly stocked up on bravery. "Okay then," she said, acting like she didn't feel anything during that little so-called mushy moment, "on one…two…"

"THREE!" Ron shouted, taking hold of Hermione's elbow then later, her hand. He held her tightly, and soon after, their hands intertwined, moving along with their quick pace. The dog could be heard barking madly in the distance. "I don't think it got loose", Hermione panted. Ron all of a sudden noticed that he was still holding Hermione's hand. Something else he noticed was that Hermione was holding him even tighter than he was holding her.

"Er, Hermione?" he said slowly.

"Hm?"

"You can let go of my hand now…"

"Sorry", she said quickly, and she blushed like crazy, trying to hide the fact that she was actually embarrassed by that.

They made their way towards the bright pink old-style cars that were piled on top of each other, and decided that they'd go through each compartment together, incase the other misses something.

**000**

The search wasn't very successful during the first few minutes. It was monotonous and frustrating, also considering that they were both very tired from running and that it was nearing noon in that hot, sandy place. Hermione found a few gold doorknobs, but they weren't trinkets, were they? She pocketed them anyway.

Ron found some chocolate with gold wrappers. He was about to eat them when Hermione gave him a warning look. He kept quiet then. They were running out of cars to check when Hermione opened one of the last ones and found a book called _Golden Trinkets._ Hermione flipped open the book and went through the pages. Some of them had pictures in them, but so far, nothing made sense at all. And then when Hermione arrived on the binding of the book, right in the very middle of it all, a little pool of ink formed.

Ron looked at it hesitantly and decided that he should try and touch it. That's what he did. "Be careful," Hermione warned him, her eyes filled with concern. He stuck his hand in the wet, black pool and took out a set of golden keys.

"I think I know what to do with these," Hermione said slyly, looking around the car they were in.

**000**

_Thank you to all my reviewers who are too awesome. I also appreciate those emails telling me to get off my butt and write. I love you all:)_

_-punknpotter a.k.a Giselle._

_Xx_

_If you liked this chapter and would like to read more, please review!_


	14. The First Photograph

**Summary**: Hermione and Ron find themselves stuck in a Labyrinth. If they're going to get out, they'll have to learn to work together. But once they do, what will happen when they discover much more than meets the eye?

**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger

**Disclaimer**: I do not, did not and never will own Harry Potter.

**Author's Note**: Once again, I'm dreadfully sorry that I haven't updated in 5 months. I hope a few of you are still reading this! LOTS OF…ROMANCE AHEAD!

_**The Labyrinth of Love**_

_Chapter 14: The First Photograph_

Hermione slowly turned the keys in and leaned back, taking a deep breath and looking nervous. Ron looked at hear curiously and said, "You do know how to work this thing?"

She looked at his nose, avoiding his eyes and said to the glove compartment, "Well…a bit"

"…but don't worry, okay? It's just a car"

The minute she stepped on the gas, the car shook suddenly. Ron looked out the window.

"Great. Another flying car. Bloody hell, who keeps coming up with these sadistic ideas?"

"F-flying car?" Hermione said, "I can't drive a car—let alone a flying one"

"YOU CAN'T DRIVE?"

"Yeah…I can, but I get really nervous," she said quietly, "don't _you_ know how?"

"I could try…"

"No. Don't." Hermione breathed, backing against the seat.

She stepped on the gas again, lifting them up even higher. Hermione could no longer see the heaps of garbage in front of her.

Hermione stops. "Ron, I can't do this."

"You seemed pretty self-assured holding the keys back there!"

"That was before I knew we were _flying_ out of this place, Ron"

"Hermione, you _know_ what's going to happen if you don't even try!"

"No, I don't! That's just it, Ron. I don't know what's going to happen anymore! I'm tired of just looking for clues and—and not getting anything out of it anymore. Okay. And I want to get out of here right now…right now. Ron…" her voice trailed off and she opened her mouth to say something else…but she just sighed and looked hard at the steering wheel.

"Hermione…," Ron said slowly. He couldn't believe he was about to say what he was going to, "Remember when we first got in here, and I wanted to leave and I was just so fed up about everything, because everything was so hard and it was just bloody wrong for us to go around chasing exits and just end up in another damned place…and having to do the same thing over and over again…" his voice trailed off too, cracking and unsure.

"…Hermione, I'm so glad to be stuck with you, you know that? Because you're the cleverest person I've ever known and I don't think I could ever get out of here without your help"

Hermione looked at him closely. He looked so nervous just saying that, as he's just thinking about what to say next, and drops of sweat are edging towards his chin.

"I could try," Hermione said in a whisper, and she stepped on the gas again and they veered towards the right.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Ron asked with uncertainty.

"As far away as possible," Hermione said, not looking at him.

About two hours and zero words later, Hermione opened her mouth to speak. She quickly closed it again. What was she supposed to say now? After everything Ron said to her…every beautiful word. She glanced at Ron's flaming red hair. His head was turned towards the window and he quickly reached up to run his hand through his hair, and Hermione looked away.

God, Hermione. _Please_ don't say you're falling in love with Ronald. _Please._

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Er…I'm sorry for acting stupid and being afraid of heights…"

Ron cleared his throat and looked at her. He suddenly felt stupid for saying all that to her. He never meant to, really. He never did. _Now she probably has some crazy idea that I'm in love with her! _He thought about it. Actually, it's not _that_ crazy. That's when he started debating with himself.

_Mate. What's not to like about Hermione Granger?_

What is?

_But look at those eyes…that smile…_

Yeah. Every other girl has eyes and a smile.

_But she's not like every other girl, is she?_

Shut up.

_Gotcha._

Ron took a deep breath before turning to the window again. The sun was coming down.

"Hermione…" he whispered.

"What?"

"Look at the sky…"

The sunset was beautiful…especially from the sky itself. The colors seemed to keep on melting and melting until there was nothing but pure beauty and a sense of peace.

"That's beautiful"

Realizing that they spoke in hushed voices, Ron raised his voice a bit and said, "Hermione?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "What?"

"It's okay. I understand…" he rolled his eyes, "I have an irrational fear of spiders, remember?"

Hermione laughed.

_But look at those eyes…that smile… _it kept ringing in his head.

"Did you really mean what you said?"

_What's not to like about Hermione Granger?_

Ron ignored the voice and smiled back.

"Yeah, yeah I did."

"Thanks," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

As it was getting darker and darker by the minute, there was nothing else but the headlights and the stars…and the fact that Ron was there with Hermione, and that Hermione was there with Ron stayed in their heads.

Hermione let out a yawn and her eyes landed on the gas gauge. They were running on empty!

Ron looked at what Hermione was staring at and gulped. "What does that mean?"

"Were going to die," Hermione said plainly, and panicking, she said, "There's no more gas…!"

"We'll fill it up again, then."

"There's no gas station, Ron"

And as soon as she said that, they plummeted quickly into the darkness, hitting ground violently.

And they held hands the whole time.

**000**

Hermione shakily got out of the car. Her knee hit the car door. Sand entered her shoes and she saw the shore and she started laughing and smiling at the same time.

"We're at a beach…", she said under her breath, "A beautiful…romantic…hideaway-type…beach"

She bit her lip and rushed over to Ron, who was just getting out of the car.

"Are you okay…?" she asked.

"Hit my elbow," he said awkwardly, and looked around. "Haven't we already gone to a beach?"

"Yeah, well…" Hermione sat down on the sand, leaning against the car.

Ron sat down beside her, and said, "Some labyrinth, huh?"

"Yeah…"

Hermione slowly edged closer.

"Look at the stars," she whispered, looking up.

And I guess the two of them were so mesmerized by the stars that neither of them noticed that Hermione's head was already resting on Ron's shoulder and they were both falling…asleep and for each other.

Hermione was getting really sleepy and she suddenly noticed that her head was tilted to the right, on Ron's shoulder. And Ron didn't seem to mind.

Ron, of course, was aware the whole time that Hermione's head was on his shoulder…but he couldn't get over the fact that she didn't seem to care anymore.

And, maybe, he shouldn't care either.

"Hermione…?"

"Hmm?" She was already half asleep.

He took a deep breath and held her cheek and she looked up in surprise, and suddenly she closed her smiling eyes, because Ron just suddenly kissed her deeply, and she started to kiss back.

He carefully put his hand on her back and pulled her lower, as his head hit the soft, cool sand, and their lips slowly parted and she fell back onto the sand beside him, closing in to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Hermione…?"

"Yeah?"

"That was bloody awesome…"

She smiled. And fell asleep in his arms.

**000**

Ron on the other hand couldn't fall asleep. Was this it? He and Hermione are…going out? _That was an amazing snog._ He stopped thinking for awhile and he suddenly noticed that all he could hear were the waves…and Hermione's quiet breathing. And suddenly he realized that it all fit.

Maybe there was a reason for all this…their getting stuck in the labyrinth…all of the times that he saved Hermione…all of the times that Hermione saved him…all of the times that Hermione smiled at him…and all of the times he thought of that smile. He was thinking of it right now.

There were a billion feelings at once. They just exploded inside of him. And then he fell asleep.

**000**

Hermione was the first to wake up.

_Did last night really happen?_

It was like they were in some dream.

_Did everything really happen?_

Everything…from the walking in the corridor side by side with Ron, to hearing him spill words into her ear to get her to fly the car…it all seemed like some huge, beautiful dream…to him kissing her.

And she didn't want to wake up.

She looked closely at Ron. At his red hair, at his freckles…at his eyes slowly opening…with the sun reflecting on them.

"Good morning…," he said sleepily, yawning awkwardly, forgetting momentarily that he just kissed Hermione last night.

She just smiled at him, her eyes smiling with her, as brilliant as any beautiful day.

"Morning," she replied.

She slowly got up to look around. Then she suddenly remembered something. She went to the backseat of the car and took out the packs and rummaged until she found it.

It was already scratched a bit but it was still working when she turned it on. She sat down beside Ron and took a picture of both of them, smiling, with the waves rolling behind them.

**000**

"Hermione! Ron!" A huge voice bellowed from behind.

They turned their heads and saw that a man with a Hawaiian shirt was walking towards them.

"Who are you?"

The man looked at Ron blankly, as if offended that Ron didn't know who he was.

"I'm councilmember Stan, of course! Aren't I, Hermione?"

"Er, yeah, of course sir"

"Come, come…let's have some breakfast"

Ron's face lit up. Hermione saw and she smiled inwardly. Then the two of them followed Councilmember Stan to a huge table filled with delicious tropical food.

Ron ate slowly, glancing at Hermione more often than he took bites.

"So," Councilmember Stan said, taking a gulp of pineapple juice, "…let's get straight to the point, shall we?"

Hermione nodded, concentrating on what he was about to say.

"Well…of course you've already established that you're in a labyrinth…and well, there's no actual way to get out of here except to just keep on going through the rooms and such…"

He paused and looked at them closely.

"…well…Professor Dumbledore called the head office and asked me to get you out of here as soon as possible…"

Hermione looked at him hopefully and Ron couldn't even believe what he was hearing.

"…however…"

Hermione's face fell. Ron took a sip of juice.

"…that's not possible. But then…"

Hermione shook her head slowly and pursed her lips.

"…I owe Albus my life…there was this particular incident…well, let's not get into that. But, the best thing I can do for you is to take you through the closest door…"

"Thank you, sir—"

"But…you're going to have to go tomorrow…take all the time you want here to rest…take a walk around the beach…stretch your legs a bit…eat a lot…"

"…why? Can't we just go right now?" Ron asked, perplexed.

"Absolutely not"

"…but, why not?"

"Because you'll need all the strength, all the willpower. Because the room you're about to go into…the room you're going into tomorrow…it's the room…where _they_ live"

"Who?"

"_The beasts_"

**000**

_**If you liked this chapter and would like to read more, please remember to be heard and review!**_

Thanks to everyone who reviewed me. XD

If you're into DMHG, make sure to read and review my new story, Waiting to Save You.


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